Archive of News and Press Releases
Business as usual.
Business as usual. Polarstern plows her way through the open waters of the Weddell Sea – the ice cover is at it minimum, subjectively at least – and heads for one mooring position after the other.
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Deep-sea drilling to shed new light on the stability of the Antarctic Ice Sheet
Over the next few months, geophysicists and geologists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research will gain unprecedented insights into the climatic history of the Antarctic Ice Sheet as part of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). The experts will take part in three Antarctic expeditions on board the IODP drilling ship “JOIDES Resolution”, and will lead two of the three legs. By collecting the drilled cores, the researchers hope to find evidence of how the ice masses of the Antarctic have reacted to…
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At Neumayer Station
Neumayer, finally! Polarstern took berth about 20 km north of the German Antarctic Station (officially named Neumayer Station III) at the extreme edge of the ice shelf (Fig. 1) and commences to lift one container after the other from its cargo holds onto sledges on the ice shelf to be towed by snowcats to the station.
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Ten-year anniversary of the Neumayer Station III
The Antarctic is a frigid continent south of the Antarctic Circle, where researchers are the only inhabitants. Despite the hostile conditions, here the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) operates a research station where researchers live and work year round. Since 2009 the Neumayer Station III, located on the Ekström Ice Shelf on the eastern coast of the Weddell Sea, has served as the primary base of operations for German Antarctic research activities. The station crew, together with a delegation from the…
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The pace at which the world’s permafrost soils are warming
Global warming is leaving more and more apparent scars in the world’s permafrost regions. As the new global comparative study conducted by the international permafrost network GTN-P shows, in all regions with permafrost soils the temperature of the frozen ground at a depth of more than 10 metres rose by an average of 0.3 degrees Celsius between 2007 and 2016 – in the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as the high mountain ranges of Europe and Central Asia. The effect was most pronounced in Siberia, where the temperature of the frozen soil rose by nearly 1…
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On the way to Neumayer Station III
Having refurbished all oceanographic moorings of the eastern Weddell Sea (Fig. 1), the ship can finally shifts its attention to the biological projects aboard.
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Oceanography
After nearly a week at sea, the oceanographic station work falls into routine: CTD (conductivity – temperature – pressure probe) in the water – lowering to the bottom – hoisting – CTD aboard. This is frequently followed by the deployment of an Argo float, freely drifting profiling probes which will regularly provide the oceanographic key parameters, temperature and salt, from within the upper 2000m of the ocean for the next 5 years.
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A full loaded vessel
As planned, Polarstern pushes away from the pier in Cape Town on 15 December at 4pm, taking off for her 117th expedition to the Antarctic.
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German-Russian Cooperation
Scientists and political representatives are meeting in Rostock today, including AWI Director Antje Boetius. Cooperation in marine and polar research is an essential aspect of German-Russian research cooperation.