All oceanographic measurements in the Filchner Trough will complement moorings installed under the ice in the context of the FISP project (Filchner Ice Shelf Project). In turn, the oceanographic mooring data on the water column in a cavern below the ice shelf will add to those from other moorings and hydrographic sections in front of the ice shelf. In this way, the researchers can compare their measurements taken directly at the source with those taken downstream. “At both sites we now have time series on the physical parameters for at least four years, and we plan to continue them for at least another four years. Then we’ll be able to make longer-term forecasts on the melting processes at the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf,” explains Dr Hartmut Hellmer, who coordinates the oceanographic section of the FISP at the Alfred Wegener Institute.
During the expedition, for the first time a specially designed remotely operated vehicle from the British National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and British Antarctic Survey (BAS) was used under the Antarctic ice shelf. With its help, the scientists were able to measure the temperature, salinity and depth of the water in a cavern hidden under 550-metre-thick ice (http://noc.ac.uk/news/alr-boaty-completes-first-under-ice-antarctic-mission). The 52 researchers on the interdisciplinary expedition team also included researchers from geology, sea-ice physics, geochemistry and biology working groups. In addition to scientific endeavours, the Polarstern also performed important logistical duties: from 28 to 30 January, the icebreaker stopped at the Alfred Wegener Institute’s Neumayer III research station to drop off fuel, scientific and logistical supplies. In early March, Polarstern continued on to the British Halley VI Research Station, where she took on cargo and passengers before heading for South America.
After entering port at Punta Arenas (Chile), the ship will change crews and be restocked with fresh provisions, fuel and scientific equipment. On 17 March the Polarstern and her new crew will embark on a seven-week expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula. Following the expedition, she’ll make another stop at Punta Arenas before returning to her homeport in Bremerhaven, tentatively on 11 June.