• Researching the environmental impacts of deep-seabed mining

    To what extent does polymetallic nodule mining impact the ecosystem in the deep sea? This is what the MiningImpact expedition SO295 with the research vessel SONNE is investigating for the next two months [...] months in the exploration contract areas of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the North Pacific. During the collection of polymetallic nodules, the bio-active layer of the seabed is removed and the sediments

  • New Method Makes It Possible to Measure Arctic Sea-ice Thickness, Even in Summer

    much faster than the rest of the world. With consequences for its sea ice. In order to gauge the thickness of ice masses in the North Pole region, scientists chiefly rely on satellites. But this method [...] now developed a method that, for the first time, makes it possible to identify changes in the Arctic sea-ice thickness for the years 2011 to 2021 – even during the summer months. The resultant data is especially

  • Polarstern Returns to Bremerhaven

    The Research Vessel Polarstern was in the Arctic for the past seven weeks. There, the summertime sea-ice extent declined by ca. 40 percent over the past 40 years – making it one of the most visible impacts [...] Polarstern investigated Atlantic Water Recirculation in Fram Strait and in the marginal ice zone north of Svalbard, as well as ocean/glacier interactions off the coast of Greenland. Central research questions [...] questions included how the ice conditions, ocean heat fluxes and ocean stratification determine sea-ice melt in the marginal ice zone (between the ice free waters and the dense pack ice) and how the melt

  • ARJEL

    Does sea ice play a particular role in Arctic jellyfish ecology? We evaluate the role of sea ice as a habitat for jellies in order to make predictions on their potential decrease with further sea ice decline [...] DNA analyses. Such interdisciplinary surveys allow us to link distributional patterns of jellies to sea-ice and oceanographic (sub-mesoscale) features. We apply species and community distribution models [...] of jellies in the Arctic food web, their importance for higher trophic levels and their link to the sea-ice trophic pathway will be elucidated with metabarcoding and biomarker studies. We plan to conduct

  • DP+PP-S5POC

    Wiegmann , Sonja (2022) Phytoplankton pigment concentrations during POLARSTERN cruise PS121 from North Sea to Fram in August to September 2019. PANGAEA , doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.941011 Bracher

  • Central Europe: Dry Aprils pave the way for summer droughts

    lead to a shift in the jet stream and the formation of a blocking high-pressure system over the North Sea and parts of Germany. This in turn means that the April weather in Central Europe is getting much

  • Bernhard Diekmann

    n ice sheets extended as far as Schleswig-Holstein and Brandenburg; the North Sea coast lay north of England. Today’s North Sea Basin was covered with tundra, like what we now see in eastern Siberia. Today’s [...] sed by perpetual ice in the Antarctic, and fluctuating ice extents in the Arctic, North America and Europe. The North German landscape is a legacy of the last glacial 20,000 years ago. When this period [...] Today’s Arctic, with ice-covered Greenland, Siberian permafrost and sea ice at the North Pole, is a holdover of that glacial world. But for how much longer? As geoscientists, we provide insights to help

  • Sustainable Ship Operation

    same number of crewmembers never spend more than a month on board, sailing through the North Sea and in the North Atlantic to Spitsbergen. The waste that accumulates and is sorted on board can be easily [...] and, since its installation, the AWI’s second-largest research ship has been cruising the North Sea and North Atlantic as cleanly as possible, thanks to the cutting-edge technology used. RV Mya II (Photo: [...] traversing the icy waters of the high north and deep south since 1982. On an average of 300 days a year, the Polarstern can be found forging her way through the rough seas of the polar regions, using her nearly

  • After more than 100 years: The Endurance has been found!

    's ship - the Endurance - which sank in the Weddell Sea in 1915. Three weeks after the start, the team was able to locate the previously lost wreck. Researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute were also

  • Construction Begins on the BLUEHOUSE HELGOLAND

    From 2024, visitors can expect a unique exhibition covering everything from the history of the North Sea to the future of marine research. At the heart of the exhibition is an 80,000-litre aquarium showcasing