Artificial Submarine Curtains Won’t Save West Antarctica’s Retreating Glaciers
avoided coastal impacts.But such a large-scale operation in one of the most inaccessible places on Earth is estimated to cost US$50 billion–100 billion to build and another US$1 billion a year to maintain. It could also have negative impacts on the rest of the ice sheet and marine life in the Southern Ocean.Our new study weighs up whether these kinds of experiments are worthwhile.We explore the conditions required to stop runaway glacial retreat in the Amundsen Sea Embayment, the sector of West Antarctica currently losing most ice. We find that blocking warm water from the embayment may not be enough
Boskalis Commissions BOKA Ocean Cable-Laying Vessel
on her maiden project in the German part of the North Sea, Boskalis said.The BOKA Ocean has been reunited in the Boskalis fleet with her two sister vessels.In fact, these were acquired by Boskalis in the past two and a half years and are now operating under the names BOKA Northern Ocean and BOKA Southern Ocean.Although they are still similar in appearance, each vessel has now its own specialty. The BOKA Southern Ocean and BOKA Northern Ocean are high-end construction support vessels, busy with IRM and decommissioning work in the North Sea and various offshore wind farm construction activities in Southeast
RRS Sir David Attenborough Begins Research Mission in the Southern Ocean
Scientists aboard Britain's high-tech polar research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough are headed to the Weddell Sea to investigate how carbon dioxide moves and transforms in the Southern Ocean.The ship departed Tuesday from Punta Arenas, Chile for the 30-day scientific expedition.As the carbon in the seawater rises to the surface near Antarctica, it interacts with the atmosphere, ice, and microscopic plants and animals, called phytoplankton and zooplankton, near the ocean surface, before descending to the ocean depths. By understanding more about this process, the researchers hope to improve
Canada and Spain Scientists Establish Antarctic Ocean Observatory
. This is the first time that ONC will extend its ocean monitoring outside Canadian waters.This partnership between ONC, a University of Victoria initiative, and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) will advance scientific understanding of one of the most underobserved parts of the planet, the Southern Ocean, or the Antarctic Ocean.The Spanish polar research vessel Hespérides that is transporting the ONC observatory is enroute to the Spanish Antarctic Station (BAE), Juan Carlos I, located on Livingston Island in the South Shetlands Archipelago that is north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It is
Australian Research Vessel Heads South to Study Clouds
The Australian research agency CSIRO’s research vessel Investigator has departed on the longest voyage in its 10-year history to the Southern Ocean and sea-ice edge.The aim of the 60-day voyage is to explore how links between physics, biogeochemistry, plankton, aerosols and clouds influence the Earth’s climate. Changes in the Southern Ocean would have profound implications, influencing the rate of climate change, the productivity of the Antarctic ecosystem, and the future of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Changes in the Antarctic Ice Sheet, in turn, would affect the rate of sea level
Deep-sea Probe Recovered from Southern Ocean
In a first for the Australian research organization CSIRO’s research vessel (RV) Investigator, a robotic float has been recovered from the Southern Ocean after its three-year mission sampling deep waters about 500 kilometers south of Tasmania.Argo floats drift at a ‘parking depth’ of 1,000 meters, then sink to 2,000 meters and rise to the surface every 10 days, taking measurements along the way. At the surface they transmit the data via satellite, then descend again. BGC (for biogeochemical) Argo float no.5906623 performed this cycle 290 times since it was released from RV
US Issues Draft RFP for New Antarctic Research Vessel
by reducing ambiguity, the agency said.NSF's ARV project aims to produce a modern icebreaking research vessel coupled with modern scientific tools and enhanced capabilities compared to those of NSF's chartered vessel, RV Nathaniel B. Palmer. Ensuring uninterrupted science operation in the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic for decades to come, the new research vessel will support the NSF's science mission goals by increasing access to ice protected hard-to-reach study sites, allowing for longer mission durations, and delivering more scientists and equipment to the Antarctic theatre.The new
Marine Heatwaves Cause Chaos on the Seafloor
weird heatwave system that only appears close to the seafloor. These are produced when strong wind creates currents driving warm, shallower water down to the bottom. On the east coast, these currents come from cold winds from the south. So even while you’re shivering through cold winds from the Southern Ocean, the ocean seafloor may be sweltering through a heatwave. These may be the most destructive to ecosystems but go all but unnoticed.This figure shows the different types of marine heatwaves affecting coastal waters (shown by the anomalous heat in red) Author provided, CC BY-NDMarine heatwaves
Scientists Find Rare Window Where Carbon Sinks Quickly Into the Deep Ocean
Looking out across the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, I can see whales and seabirds diving in and out of the water as they feed on sea life in the lower levels of the food web. At the base of this food web are tiny phytoplankton – algae that grow at the ocean surface, taking up carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, just as plants on land do.Because of their small size, phytoplankton are at the mercy of the ocean’s swirling motions. They are also so abundant that the green swirls are often visible from space.Typically, phytoplankton remain near the surface of the ocean. Some
February 2024
