|
|
Overall Objective
The western Weddell Sea is unique among Antarctic
sea ice regions, as it comprises the largest perennial ice zone of
the Southern Ocean and thus exerts a major influence on the oceanography,
meteorology and ecology in this region. The results are expected to
provide answers to the following questions:
- What controls ice survival during the summer,
and how does this affect the perennial ice cover on longer time
scales?
- What is the role of the perennial ice region
for the fresh water budget of the Weddell Sea?
- What are the hydrological conditions on the
western continental shelf (supposed to be the prime site for deep
and bottom water formation) after completion of the freezing season?
- How are primary production in sea ice and phytoplankton
as well as krill distribution affected by the sea ice regime in
the Weddell Sea?
Tasks
- To investigate physical, biogeochemical and
biological processes controlling the transformation and interactions
in the atmosphere-ice-ocean system from austral spring to summer.
Main focus of the project is the sea ice system with emphasis
on the study of processes as a function of meteorological and
oceanographic boundary conditions. These processes are, from top
to bottom:
-
Metamorphism and melt of
snow, and related changes in surface albedo.
-
Refreezing of meltwater
and formation of superimposed ice at the snow/ice interface.
-
Flooding and near-surface
formation of seawater-filled gap layers in the ice.
-
Development of highly productive
biological communities within the gap layers.
-
Brine channel development,
rotting and bottom melting of sea ice.
- Exchange of brine/seawater between ice
and ocean.
-
To provide a comprehensive data
set of the entire system, in support of the development of numerical
models and as ground-truth information for satellite remote
sensing studies.
-
To determine the post-freeze
hydrographic conditions on the western Weddell Sea continental
shelf related to deep and bottom water formation.
-
To complement sea-ice and oceanographic
observations and process studies performed during the US/Russian
Ice Station Weddell (ISW-1), carried out in the summer-to-fall
period 1992.
-
To improve our understanding
of the seasonal interaction between biota and sea ice.
Framework
- BIOPPSI (BIOlogical and Physical Processes in
Sea Ice): Interdisciplinary project at AWI involving physical,
biological, and biogeochemical studies of sea-ice processes.
- ASPeCt
(Antarctic Sea-ice Processes and Climate):
International SCAR/GLOCHANT program.
- iAnZone
(international Antarctic Zone program): SCOR affiliated program.
|
|
