Archive of News and Press Releases
Homebound through the ice.
During the sixth week of expedition PS101 we are making our way home through the ice. A FRAM “superbuoy” station needs to be rescued before we leave the ice.
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Oasis of life in the ice-covered central Arctic
Under the ice of the Arctic, unknown habitats conceal an unexpected variety of living beings. On October 23rd, 46 scientists are expected to return to the home port in Bremerhaven from an Arctic expedition with the research vessel Polarstern. Over the past six weeks, they had explored life in ice, ocean and seabed with new robots and camera systems.
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Discovering the ice-covered Arctic deep-sea: Of robots, minerals and microbes
The fifth week of expedition PS101 has made significant progress in the study of hot vents and seamounts under the ice-covered seas. The under ice robot NUI samples the seafloor.
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Mystery of archaeal butane degradation solved
Researchers from the Research Group for Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology of the Helmholtz Association and the Max Planck Society discovered microbial communities thriving on the hydrocarbon butane without the help of molecular oxygen. The microbial consortia, obtained from hydrothermally heated sediments in Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California, use unprecedented biochemistry to feed on butane.
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Germany is proposing a Marine Protected Area in Antartica
The European Union has submitted a proposal, prepared by Germany, to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) for a marine protected area (MPA) in the Antarctic Weddell Sea. AWI scientists have compiled and analysed the scientific data on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
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New Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity
Marine ecosystems provide us with food and raw materials, they have an impact on air quality and global climate, they break down harmful substances and serve as places of recreation and tourism. The functioning of these ecosystems – and thus also the basis for human well-being – depends on the biological diversity of the oceans. The way climate change and human influences change marine biodiversity will in future be examined by scientists in a new institute: as was recently decided by the senate of the Helmholtz Association, the Helmholtz Institute for…
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Search for the effects of the Chicxulub asteroid impact on life
In April and May, 2016, a team of international scientists drilled into the site of the asteroid impact, known as the Chicxulub Impact Crater, which occurred 66 million years ago. The crater is buried several hundred meters below the surface in the Yucatán region of México. This joint expedition, organized by the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) and International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) recovered a nearly complete set of rock cores from 506 to 1335 meters below the modern day seafloor.
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New tools and concepts to observe the changing Arctic Ocean
Expedition PS101 tests, deploys and recovers several new types of instrumentation for the observation of ice, ocean and seafloor processes in the Central Arctic. A main aim is to observe and analyse the changes in the sea ice cover, and its causes and consequences for ocean and life.
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Great potential for comprehensive monitoring of the water masses in the ocean
More melt water is entering the Artic Ocean from the glaciers due to climbing temperatures. In addition, the rivers are carrying large amounts of sediment from thawing permafrost. How the Arctic Ocean will react to such changes is a very big question, which is concerning scientists around the world. Researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute have now published, together with international colleagues, the usage of a new optical method by which it is easier and quicker to identify different water masses.
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Hot and Cold at Gakkel Ridge of the Central Arctic Basin
The third week of expedition PS101 was dedicated to the study of hydrothermal venting under the ice. The Arctic fall season has begun.
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