Only few days are left; we are approaching the end of the cruise. Last Wednesday we already entered the open ocean and left the Arctic sea-ice edge behind. On our way south, we passed an area inhabited by quite a few seals, and some of us were lucky enough to see whales. On Tuesday we had our last ... [Read more]
For many people (including members of this blog team), remembering their physics lessons at school is not a very fond memory. Physics, often coupled with math, all too often seems very abstract. On a polar expedition, however, the physicists are a far cry from the stereotypical image of a ... [Read more]
Yesterday we waved goodbye to our last ice station, the eighth in the row of ice floes visited during our cruise. Working on the ice, as well as onboard Polarstern, we’ve been struck by all the types of creative solutions for reaching the goals of our measurements. Not only the instruments ... [Read more]
We have now started our seventh ice station and thought it is about time to summarize the amount of samples that were collected within the past few weeks during our TRANSSIZ cruise. Because we are scientists, we approached this summary quantitatively. In order to study the sea-ice habitat, ... [Read more]
We are at our 6th ice station and the fog has rolled in. Standing out on the back deck, you feel almost like you are enclosed inside one of those tiny snow globes, the scenery blanketed in snow and the Polarstern wrapped in a foggy mist. Looking out over the rail of the Polarstern, ... [Read more]
The strong winds of the last couple of days complicated the work on the ship and on the ice. Not only do you constantly have to keep an eye to prevent your stuff from flying away, it also makes it very cold. The people that go to work outside put on an extra layer of clothes and cover up as much ... [Read more]
We are approaching the mid-point of the TRANSSIZ cruise on the Polarstern and we wanted to hear some thoughts and experiences from members of the science team. We went around and asked cruise participants a few simple, rapid-fire questions, hoping to get responses off the top of their heads. Here is ... [Read more]
Without light, life is not possible. Algae depend on the sun`s energy and can only grow if there is enough light penetrating the ocean. The depth at which light reaches is dependent on the various substances present in the water. If specific substances are abundant, the sea water turns yellow or ... [Read more]
At first it feels like flying over the ice. Gently the bow of Polarstern hovers forward over the ice floe at the speed of racing horses. Then a scream and a crack, as the keel hits the ice with its blade-like front edge, sometimes creating extra noise in our cabins and labs, books in the shelves ... [Read more]
We are now into week three of the TRANSSIZ cruise to explore sea-ice processes in a seasonal Arctic environment. To date, we have successfully completed our work at three stations alongside ice floes and have really begun to establish a sampling rhythm. Now that we have a handle on our own workflow, ... [Read more]
