• Tara Polar Station

    unique and fragile ecosystems Observe Arctic fish stocks and the impact of the arrival of more temperate species Life in a frozen ocean: analogues to other ocean planets and bioprospecting with new potential [...] drift expeditions between 2025 and 2045. During these 20 years, 10 year-long drift studies in the Arctic Ocean are planned. The work is based on the collaboration of an international and interdisciplinary [...] Station was baptized in Lorient, France, in April 2025 and will realize the first drift in the Arctic Ocean starting in summer 2026. Before this, different test campaigns are planned, including a shorter

  • The Polarstern expedition PS92

    sail for a six week expedition to the Central Arctic Ocean initiated by “ART”. ART, in this case, does not stand for artistry but is the abbreviation for Arctic in Rapid Transition, an international research [...] research network established by early career scientists working in the Arctic.

  • Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology

    A main focus is to carry out multidisciplinary field studies and experimental work in the deep Arctic Ocean. In December 2008 a Joint Research Group for Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology of the Helmholtz [...] Marine Microbiology ( MPI-MM ) in deep-sea research, and to set up a new research focus on the deep Arctic Ocean. The Joint Research Group comprises the expertise of the MPI-MM in the area of marine microbiology [...] al projekts Find out more TECHNOLOGY Instruments and gears to facilitate research in the deep Arctic Ocean Find out more Section Head: Dr. Frank Wenzhöfer Lead MPI-MM branch: Prof. Dr. Antje Boetius Assistance

  • Melanie Bergmann

    MB Media Euronews (Video) | 02.06.2023 Cleaning up the oceans: Is it too little, too late? Find out more > Eye on the Arctic | 25.04.2023 Arctic ice algae highly polluted with microplastics, poses food [...] are available to the general public. Melanie Bergmann (AWI): Litter and Microplastics Invade the Arctic Ocean (Photo: Alfred-Wegener-Institut) Contact Melanie Bergmann +49(471)4831-1739 E-Mail CV Social Media [...] Google Scholar Photo Download Biologin Dr. Melanie Bergmann. jpg | 3 MB Melanie Bergmann counts Arctic Ocean plastic, jpg | 363 KB Melanie Bergmann analyses marine litter in, jpg | 3 MB Melanie Bergmann

  • CACOON

    to the Arctic coastal-marine environment. CACOON Background Arctic rivers annually carry around 13% of all dissolved organic carbon transported globally from land to ocean, despite the Arctic Ocean making [...] Changing Arctic Carbon cycle in the cOastal Ocean Near-shore - CACOON No other region has warmed as much or as rapidly in the past decades as the Arctic. A new project, CACOON , investigates how the ecosystems [...] 1% of the Earth’s ocean volume. Arctic shelf waters are therefore dominated by terrestrial carbon pools, so that shelf ecosystems are intimately linked to freshwater supplies. Arctic ecosystems also contain

  • Themes

    Topics All Biodiversity Ice Sea Climate Regions All Arctic Antarctic North Sea Biodiversity Climate Arctic Arctic Species in Climate Change The Arctic is a habitat for specialists. Species living in the [...] produced by climate change. Find out more Ice Climate Sea Arctic Antarctic Sea Ice Broad expanses of the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean in the Antarctic are covered in sea ice. The ice plays a vital [...] actually benefiting from the developments. Find out more Sea Climate Arctic Antarctic North Sea Ocean Acidification Our planet’s oceans absorb tremendous amounts of carbon dioxide. Instead of causing atmospheric

  • Sea Ice Physics

    ice influence the observed variability of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice? How do variations in melt and freeze rates impact the ocean and the atmosphere in the Arctic and Antarctic? What are the consequences [...] polar ocean due to Arctic sea ice retreat? We apply, improve, and develop various methods to study sea ice and snow processes in both hemispheres, including the interaction of atmosphere and ocean. Contact [...] are the reasons for the dramatic changes in Arctic sea ice during the last decades? Why is the development of sea ice in the Antarctic so different to the Arctic and shows strong regional differences? How

  • Geophysics

    Research focuses on areas in the Arctic and sub-Arctic, the Arctic Ocean, the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. The studies include reconstructions of ice sheet dynamics, oceanic circulation and tectonic processes

  • Six to ten million years ago: Ice-free summers at the North Pole

    into the climate history of the Arctic Ocean. Using unique sediment samples from the Lomonosov Ridge, the researchers found that six to ten million years ago the central Arctic was completely ice-free during [...] winter, however, the ocean was covered by sea ice of variable extent, the scientists explain in the current issue of the journal Nature Communications. These new findings from the Arctic region provide new

  • Fram Strait

    current long-term observations Atlantic Water is the main oceanic source of heat, salt, and nutrients of the Arctic Ocean. It enters the Arctic Ocean through the Barents Sea or Fram Strait. In the eastern [...] recirculates to the western Fram Strait on timescales of several months while the rest enters the Arctic Ocean and follows a cyclonic circulation for years to decades. The AWI long-term observations in Fram [...] around 4°C since. Two anomalous warm events occurred in fall 2006 and in late winter 2012. In the deep ocean, it was also observed that the two water masses present there (the warmer Eurasian Basin Deep Water