Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research

About: Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research is a facility organization based out in Bremerhaven, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Sea ice & Arctic. The organization has 3359 authors who have published 10759 publications receiving 499623 citations. The organization is also known as: AWI & Alfred Wegener Institut.

Circulation, Renewal, and Modification of Antarctic Mode and Intermediate Water

Abstract: Nine hydrographic sections are combined in an inverse box model of the Southern Ocean south of ;128S. The inverse model has two novel features: the inclusion of independent diapycnal flux unknowns for each property and the explicit inclusion of air‐sea fluxes (heat, freshwater, and momentum) and the water mass transformation they drive. Transformation of 34 3 106 m3 s21 of Antarctic Surface Water by air‐sea buoyancy fluxes, and cooling and freshening where Subantarctic Mode Water outcrops, renews cold, fresh Antarctic Intermediate Water of the southeast Pacific and southwest Atlantic. Relatively cold, fresh mode and intermediate water enter the subtropical gyres, are modified by air‐sea fluxes and interior mixing, and return poleward as warmer, saltier mode and intermediate water. While the zonally integrated meridional transport in these layers is small, the gross exchange is approximately 80 3 106 m3 s21. The air‐sea transformation of Antarctic surface water to intermediate water is compensated in the Southern Ocean by an interior diapycnal flux of 32 3 106 m3 s21 of intermediate water to upper deep water. The small property differences between slightly warmer, saltier intermediate water and cold, fresh Antarctic Surface Water results in a poleward transfer of heat and salt across the Polar Front zone. Mode and intermediate water are crucial participants in the North Atlantic Deep Water overturning and Indonesian Throughflow circulation cells. The North Atlantic Deep Water overturning is closed by cold, fresh intermediate water that is modified to warm, salty varieties by air‐sea fluxes and interior mixing in the Atlantic and southwest Indian Oceans. The Indonesian Throughflow is part of a circum-Australia circulation. In the Indian Ocean, surface water is converted to denser thermocline and mode water by air‐sea fluxes and interior mixing, excess mode water flows eastward south of Australia, and air‐sea fluxes convert mode water to thermocline water in the Pacific.

Arctic freshwater export: Status, mechanisms, and prospects

Abstract: Large freshwater anomalies clearly exist in the Arctic Ocean. For example, liquid freshwater has accumulated in the Beaufort Gyre in the decade of the 2000s compared to 1980-2000, with an extra ≈ 5000 km3 — about 25% — being stored. The sources of freshwater to the Arctic from precipitation and runoff have increased between these periods (most of the evidence comes from models). Despite flux increases from 2001 to 2011, it is uncertain if the marine freshwater source through Bering Strait for the 2000s has changed, as observations in the 1980s and 1990s are incomplete. The marine freshwater fluxes draining the Arctic through Fram and Davis straits are also insignificantly different. In this way, the balance of sources and sinks of freshwater to the Arctic, Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA), and Baffin Bay shifted to about 1200 ± 730 km3 yr− 1 freshening the region, on average, during the 2000s. The observed accumulation of liquid freshwater is consistent with this increased supply and the loss of freshwater from sea ice. Coupled climate models project continued freshening of the Arctic during the 21st century, with a total gain of about 50,000 km3 for the Arctic, CAA, and Baffin Bay (an increase of about 50%) by 2100. Understanding of the mechanisms controlling freshwater emphasizes the importance of Arctic surface winds, in addition to the sources of freshwater. The wind can modify the storage, release, and pathways of freshwater on timescales of O(1-10) months. Discharges of excess freshwater through Fram or Davis straits appear possible, triggered by changes in the wind, but are hard to predict. Continued measurement of the fluxes and storage of freshwater is needed to observe changes such as these.

The ecology of rafting in the marine environment - i - the floating substrata

Abstract: Rafting has been inferred as an important dispersal mechanism in the marine environment by many authors. The success of rafting depends critically on the availability of suitable floating substrata. Herein currently available information on floating items that have been reported to carry rafting organisms is summarised. Floating items of biotic origin comprise macroalgae, seeds, wood, other vascular plants, and animal remains. Volcanic pumice (natural) and a diverse array of litter and tar lumps (anthropogenic) are the main floating items of abiotic origin. Macroalgae, wood, and plastic macrolitter cover a wide range of sizes while pumice, microlitter, and tar lumps typically are <10 cm in diameter. The longevity of floating items at the sea surface depends on their origin and likelihood to be destroyed by secondary consumers (in increasing order): nonlignified vascular plants/animal carcasses < macroalgae < driftwood < tar lumps/skeletal remains < plastic litter < volcanic pumice. In general, abiotic substrata have a higher longevity than biotic substrata, but most abiotic items are of no or only limited food value for potential rafters. Macroalgae are most abundant at mid-latitudes of both hemispheres, driftwood is of major importance in northern and tropical waters, and floating seeds appear to be most common in tropical regions. Volcanic pumice can be found at all latitudes but has primarily been reported from the Pacific Ocean. Plastic litter and tar lumps are most abundant near the centres of human population and activities. In some regions of abundant supply or zones of hydrography-driven accumulation, floating items can be extremely abundant, exceeding 1000 items km –2 . Temporal supply of floating items is variable, being seasonal for most biotic substrata and highly sporadic for some items such as volcanic pumice. Most reported velocities of floating items are in the range of 0.5–1.0 km h –1 , but direct measurements have shown that they occasionally are transported at much faster velocities. Published trajectories of floating items also coincide with the main oceanic currents, even though strong winds may sometimes push them out of the principal current systems. Many studies hint toward floating items to link source regions with coastal sinks, in some cases across long distances and even entire ocean basins. Fossil evidence suggests that rafting has also occurred in palaeooceans. During recent centuries and decades the composition and abundance of floating items in the world’s oceans have been strongly affected by human activities, in particular logging, river and coastline regulation, and most importantly oil exploitation and plastic production. The currently abundant supply and the characteristics of floating items suggest that rafting continues to be an important dispersal mechanism in present-day oceans. 182 M. Thiel & L. Gutow

The Arctic Coastal Dynamics Database: A New Classification Scheme and Statistics on Arctic Permafrost Coastlines

Abstract: Arctic permafrost coasts are sensitive to changing climate. The lengthening open water season and the increasing open water area are likely to induce greater erosion and threaten community and industry infrastructure as well as dramatically change nutrient pathways in the near-shore zone. The shallow, mediterranean Arctic Ocean is likely to be strongly affected by changes in currently poorly observed arctic coastal dynamics. We present a geomorphological classification scheme for the arctic coast, with 101,447 km of coastline in 1,315 segments. The average rate of erosion for the arctic coast is 0.5 m year−1 with high local and regional variability. Highest rates are observed in the Laptev, East Siberian, and Beaufort Seas. Strong spatial variability in associated database bluff height, ground carbon and ice content, and coastline movement highlights the need to estimate the relative importance of shifting coastal fluxes to the Arctic Ocean at multiple spatial scales.