Italian Version

Polarstern Expedition to the Nordic Margin

(ARK XXII/1a-c)
May to July 2007

In conjunction with International Polar Year 2007 and our partners, HERMES successfully organized a HERMES outreach and training expedition on the renowned research vessel and ice-breaker Polarstern.

The expedition was divided into three sections, or sub-legs:

Mission:

The expedition to the Nordic margins has helped increase public awareness of the biodiversity and sustainable management of European high latitude ecosystems and marine resources. One of the most innovative aspects of this project was the integration of geology with biology and physical oceanography for systematic study of Arctic habitats on the Nordic margin. Extensive use of state-of-the-art ROVs and AUVs allowed the exploration of the seabed in great detail, and placed seabed experimental equipment at precise positions. The expedition with RV POLARSTERN combined science, education and outreach and gave the project a high media exposure. The international and multidisciplinary nature of this expedition provided a unique opportunity for young researchers and educators to gain insight into the art of integrated marine science.

The expedition also included scientists from Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy and others.

» Read the Chief Scientist's briefing to the participants of the PS ARK XXII/1a.	» Download the map. [Adobe PDF document]

» Some pictures from the expedition.

17.06.2007: Sunday Prost	21.06.2007: Polarstern arrival at Tromso
21.06.2007: Reception	21.06.2007: Visit to the Uni. Tromso; Geology Dept. and mountains

Sub-Leg 1a) to the Coldwater corals site, off Lofoten

HERMES partner for Outreach (Jacobs University Bremen) 'hosted' four school pupils from Norway and Germany on the first sub-leg to the coldwater coral reefs off Norway . These four school pupils carried out their own research projects and assisted the deep-sea researchers onboard the Polarstern. The pupils also communicated to their school peers about their experiences, wrote Expedition Logs, conducted scientific and investigative reporting, video-making, and interviews that they put online on a HERMES webpage dedicated to the Expedition. After the Expedition, the pupils continued their Outreach efforts, for example by designing educational posters for distribution to schools, etc. Click on the pictures of our junior scientists on the right to learn more about the four adventurous school pupils from Norway and Germany, and their activities.

The main interest during this sub-leg of the expedition was the cold water corals off Lofoten, Norway. There was also a great interest in the sponges of the Sula reef further south.

During this sub-leg, numerous scientists from various different disciplines e.g. geologists, sedimentologists, marine biologists, microbiologists, etc. were onboard. For example, a group of scientists studied the effects of elevated levels of particulate matter and sedimentation on cold-water coral ecosystems. Information on particle dynamics were used to estimate the importance of particle-aggregation, (bio)deposition and (bio)erosion for the coral reefs off the Lofoten. Other microbiologists further investigated the importance of coral-mucus for the material fluxes.

Sub-Leg 1c) Hausgarten, west of Svalbard

The three school teachers, who are also 'Ambassadors' of their schools and countries, participated on the third sub-leg (1c) of the expedition to Arctic margins where the long-term monitoring site of AWI (called Hausgarten) is located.