• The Wadden Sea Over the Course of Time

    Wadden Sea Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) It is getting warmer, sea levels are rising and the Wadden Sea ecosystems are changing rapidly (Figure 1). At the Wadden Sea station of Sylt we have one [...] other parts of the North Sea. We also envisage extending this observational power by remote sensing or other optical methods that will allow a higher spatial coverage of the North Sea. We strive to sample [...] other parts of the North Sea. We also envisage extending this observational power by remote sensing or other optical methods that will allow a higher spatial coverage of the North Sea. We aim to integrate

  • Heat from Below: How the Ocean is Wearing Down the Arctic Sea Ice

    water masses from the North Atlantic into the European marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean plays a significant role in the marked decrease in sea-ice growth, especially in winter. Sea-ice physicists from the [...] growth in the Barents and Kara Seas for years. Furthermore, they demonstrate that the invasion of warm Atlantic water masses further east, at the northern edge of the Laptev Sea, can have such a long-term [...] thickness that the effects are evident a year later, when the ice has drifted towards Greenland via the North Pole and leaves the Arctic through Fram Strait. This study also includes data from the MOSAiC expedition

  • Circulation in the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas

    and the Nordic Seas The Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas are integral parts of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, and hence key regions for the global climate. The perennial sea ice cover makes [...] glacier which is the main outlet glacier onto the shelf east of Greenland. The Shelf Seas The Shelf Seas Shallow shelf seas occupy ~40% of the Arctic Ocean’s area. The shelves’ current systems convey the [...] shape the circulation and water masses of both the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas, which form the Arctic Mediterranean north of the Greenland Scotland Ridge. The reduction of the Arctic ice cover in the

  • Wadden Sea Station

    Wadden Sea Station Sylt The AWI`s Wadden Sea Station in List on the island of Sylt is the northernmost research center in Germany. Located within walking distance of the Wadden Sea, it offers the ideal [...] more AWI North Sea Office Communicators of scientific contents Find out more Events Public lectures Open Day Girls`Day Find out more List Oyster Trail Oyster fishing and oyster research in the North Frisian [...] understanding of the Wadden Sea ecosystem. The station is also home to the NF-POGO Centre of Excellence. Emerged from a small field station for Oyster Research founded in 1924 the Wadden Sea Station Sylt can look

  • SeaKey

    SeaKey – Identification of Seaweeds of the German North Sea Coast [Translate to English:] Concept of SeaKey (Photo: Alfred-Wegener-Institut) Enable identification of seaweeds for variable stakeholders [...] order to support marine biodiversity assessment The project SeaKey develops a scientific identification key for ‘Seaweeds of the German North Sea coast’ in three parts, for brown algae, red algae and green [...] under seaweeds.awi.de The key consists of a webkey (usable as desktop version or via the App SeaKey) and downloadable and printable documents – the ‘Identification Key’ itself and the ‘Additional

  • Plastic Litter taints the sea surface, even in the Arctic

    first time that marine litter can even be found at the sea surface of Arctic waters. Though it remains unclear how the litter made it so far north, it is likely to pose new problems for local marine life

  • The last week at sea

    PS119 - Weekly Report No. 8 | 27 - 31 May 2019
    After our storm on last Friday, the sea only calmed down very slowly and station work was only possible with two CTD stations in the late night towards [...] made about 60 km to the West of the spreading centre on its flank. There, the seafloor is parted by North-South orientated, parallel faults covered by young sediment, and we discovered both in 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

  • The Wadden Sea Ecosystem

    The Wadden Sea Ecosystem The coastal area of the south-eastern North Sea, including the Wadden Sea, is a highly productive system with diverse interactions between the organisms living here. In this coastal [...] of the Wadden Sea are being investigated using modern DNA technology, from the genetic level to microbial, plankton and benthic communities. In addition, the commercially used North Sea shrimp and the [...] question is how climate change and increasing human use influence the structure and functions of our North Sea coast and to what extent the organisms can adapt to the changes. There are also often factors that

  • Sea-level rise

    the amount of sea-level rise will be similar to the global mean. To FAQ element What’s going on in the North Sea? There are also regional differences in sea-level rise in the North Sea. Over the past [...] levees. Further, the tidal flats of the North Sea can to some extent rise in step with the sea level, as high and low tide regularly add new sediment. However, if sea-level rise exceeds a certain point – [...] Global sea level on the rise Around the world, sea level is rising. From 1901 to 2018, global mean sea level rose by 20 centimetres – and in the future, it will continue to do so, and more quickly. This