• Coastlines’ contribution to climate change possibly underestimated

    result of accelerated climate change, whole sections of coastline rapidly thaw, and erode into the Arctic Ocean. A new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters now shows that large amounts [...] of carbon dioxide are potentially being produced along these eroding permafrost coastlines in the Arctic.

  • Awards and honors

    the Arctic lost its white landscape and had a blue, ice-free ocean. Alexander Haumann , ERC Starting Grant VERTEXSO , January 2023 - Dcember 2027. VERTEXSO (VERTical EXchange in the Southern Ocean) studies [...] Artemics (Arctic internal wave energetics and mixing and their interdependence with sea ice in changing climate conditions) aims to elucidate the role of internal gravity waves in the warming Arctic Ocean. We [...] the North Atlantic Ocean but also in remote areas such as the Pacific Ocean and the Antarctic. Heinrich, H.: Origin and consequences of cyclic ice rafting in the northeast Atlantic Ocean during the past 130

  • CONTRASTS

    is to characterize the key processes that determine the observed sea ice, ocean, and ecosystem changes in the Central Arctic Ocean during meltseason. The process studies and continuous observations of CONTRASTS [...] (Graphic: Alfred-Wegener-Institut) Regime 1: Future Arctic (Photo: Marcel Nicolaus) Regime 2: Present Arctic (Photo: Marcel Nicolaus) Regime 3: Past Arctic (Photo: Marcel Nicolaus) Objectives The overall objective [...] is to characterize the key processes that determine the observed sea ice, ocean, and ecosystem changes in the Central Arctic Ocean during melt season. We will investigate the causes and consequences of

  • New equipment for the AWI - "Gardener"

    towards Spitsbergen, to use newly developed equipment in the Arctic Ocean. Autonomous instruments on the seabed, in the water column and in the air will complement the long-term measurements of the deep-sea research [...] RV Polarstern starts the Arctic season
    Scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) are setting out with the research vessel Polarstern towards [...] research group. In this way researchers can analyse the climatic changes in the Arctic and their impact on the fauna in the future with higher temporal and spatial resolution.

  • Coastal carbon sinks protect permafrost material from decomposition

    show, part of the biomass released becomes trapped in deep sinks on the ocean floor off the Arctic coast – where it is protected from microbial decomposition. The outcomes of their analyses are intended [...] Permafrost
    The Arctic is warming more strongly than any other region on Earth, which leads to serious erosion of coasts where organic matter was frozen in the permafrost for thousands of years. Once [...] Once eroded material is released into the ocean, microorganisms break down ancient plant remains, releasing sizable quantities of greenhouse gases. Yet, as the latest analyses conducted by AWI experts show

  • Junior Groups

    fate of the Arctic Ocean in times of climate change Link to project webpage ARJEL To better understand the role of jellyfish in Arctic seas, the Helmholtz Young Investigators Group ARJEL (ARctic JELlifish) [...] Effect in the Arctic Ecosystem – is to assess the consequences of the decline in silicic acid concentration in the inflow of North Atlantic water into the Eurasian Arctic for the Arctic marine ecosystem [...] project webpage SO-CLIM Linkt to project webpage oceanPeak ERC Starting Grant OceanPeak COLDSPOT The project investigates where and why Arctic soils act as sinks for methane and nitrous oxide. link project

  • Young Investigator Groups

    fate of the Arctic Ocean in times of climate change Link to project webpage ARJEL To better understand the role of jellyfish in Arctic seas, the Helmholtz Young Investigators Group ARJEL (ARctic JELlifish) [...] Effect in the Arctic Ecosystem – is to assess the consequences of the decline in silicic acid concentration in the inflow of North Atlantic water into the Eurasian Arctic for the Arctic marine ecosystem [...] project webpage SO-CLIM Linkt to project webpage oceanPeak ERC Starting Grant OceanPeak COLDSPOT The project investigates where and why Arctic soils act as sinks for methane and nitrous oxide. link project

  • Polarstern longterm cruise planning

    models simulating current and future changes in the Arctic Ocean. • decipher how climate change mechanisms in the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean are coupled. • assess plastic pollution in sea-ice, [...] Campaigns - Antarctic Campaigns - Arctic Expeditions 2025: Transits and Campaigns - Antarctic Campaigns - Arctic Expeditions 2026: Transits and Campaigns - Antarctic Campaigns - Arctic Expeditions 2027: Transits [...] the transition zone between the northern North Atlantic and the central Arctic Ocean, and to determine the factors controlling Arctic deep-sea biodiversity. • Permanent presence at sea, from surface to depth

  • Projects

    and Risks BMBF nuArctic: Towards a better understanding of the nutrient cycles in the ‘new’ Arctic Ocean and implications for future primary productivity and carbon export OceanICU : OceanICU is a Horizon [...] produce new data, information and understanding on the role of the Ocean in the global carbon cycle. ERC OceanPeak: The global ocean carbon cycle after peak emissions: Dynamics and process attribution [...] future ocean in the Earth system – quantifying coupled cycles of carbon, oxygen, and nutrients for determining and achieving safe operating spaces with respect to tipping points Horizon 2020: OceanNETs :

  • LTER Observatory HAUSGARTEN

    Long-Term Ecological Research in the deep Arctic Ocean The marine Arctic has been an integral part of the history of our planet over the past 130 million years and contributes significantly to the present [...] state of the atmosphere depend to a significant extent on arctic marine processes. The past decades has seen remarkable changes in the Arctic, of which we do not know whether these represent temporary [...] and biotic parameters in a transition zone between the northern North Atlantic and the central Arctic Ocean, the Alfred Wegener Institute established the LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) observatory