The research ship Polarstern, from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) based in Bremerhaven, has left Punta Arenas, Chile, for Antarctica for a two-month mission.
Active since 1982, the Polarstern is a German oceanographic research and icebreaker. It is able to navigate the thickest ice and allows you to study the Arctic and Antarctica in depth. Thanks to its reinforced hull, this so-called « icebreaker » boat is intended to break the ice pack in order to open navigation routes giving access to polar areas that are difficult to access.
The expedition, entitled « Summer Weddell Sea Outflow Study », aims to understand why the expansion of summer sea ice has greatly decreased in recent years and to analyze the consequences of this phenomenon on the ecosystem.
The Alfred Wegener Institute is a world-renowned research center specializing in polar sciences. The researchers on board the Polarstern come mainly from the AWI, but also from other international research institutes. Until the beginning of April, they will study the northwestern part of the Weddell Sea.
source : le petit journal
