• Open waters around the North Pole: Arctic sea ice in retreat

      Arctic Ocean
      This September, the Arctic sea ice extent has shrunk to 4.1 million square kilometres (sq km)-the second lowest in the history of satellite measurements. It is exceeded only by the all-time [...] all-time record low of 3.4 million sq km in 2012. "Once again, a massive loss of sea ice in the Arctic," says Prof. Lars Kaleschke from Universität Hamburg's Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability

    • At Neumayer Station

      2017
      4 January 2017, 2 weeks and 5 days at sea. The morning finds Polarstern alongside the ice shelf edge, or, more precisely, at the north-eastern berth of Atka Sea Port.

    • Week 6: From East Svalbard towards the deep Arctic Ocean

      we started in the marginal sea ice zone east of Svalbard, and then set course north into the central Arctic Ocean.The marginal sea ice zone was mostly covered with decaying sea ice and some larger ice-free

    • Week 7: In the deep Arctic Ocean

      transect, Polarstern bit its way through heavy sea ice, hard as concrete and covered with a thick layer of snow. This altogether slowed down our progress into the north significantly. During our journey in the

    • Between Ile-de-France and Norske Oer

      25 September - 1 October 2017
      This week started with a disappointment. As a result of very dense sea ice coverage we were unable to recover 3 moorings deployed near the northern edge of the embayment [...] observe the circulation at the transition from Norske Trough in the south to Westwind Trough in the north.

    • Wandering greenhouse gas

      coastal regions north of Siberia, microorganisms produce methane when they break down plant remains. If this greenhouse gas finds its way into the water, it can also become trapped in the sea ice that forms

    • New species in the North Sea

      Oldenburg and Potsdam, Germany have confirmed the existence of a new cryptic amphipod species in the North Sea. For the first time for the description of a new species, they used a level of mitogenomic information

    • On thin ice in the warm Arctic

      Sea Ice
      The Arctic sea ice continues to dwindle: Since the 1970s, when satellites first began monitoring the white sheet covering the Arctic Ocean, its February extent was never as small as it was this [...] which are not only hitting the Arctic more frequently, but are also intensifying and reaching farther north.

    • Larsen C Ice Shelf Remains a Mystery

      the Larsen C Ice Shelf. Since dense sea ice and ice ridges blocked the planned route, the ship has now set course for alternative research sites further to the north.

    • From the Arctic to the North Sea

      Today the German Norwegian Ocean Forum take place in Bremen. It is jointly organized by the Norwegian Embassy, Innovation Norway and the AWI. AWI director Antje Boetius guides through the program.