AKADEMIK TRESHNIKOV TRANSDRIFT XXIV

The TRANSDRIFT XXIV expedition focusses on climate warming in the Laptev Sea, a key region for sea-ice formation in the Arctic Ocean. The scientists onboard AKADEMIK TRYOSHNIKOV, a Russian research icebreaker, expect new insights into the changes this region is undergoing, focussing, in particular, on the circumarctic Boundary Current. This current transports large amounts warmer water masses along the continental slope of the Siberian shelf seas. Potentially this might even lead to the disappearance of the whole Arctic sea-ice cover if the upper layers were warmed by them. During the expedition water samples will be taken, particularly along the continental slope of the Laptev Sea. In addition, several seafloor observatories, which have been collecting data for three years, are planned to be recovered.
The participants of the expedition are scientists and students from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI, Saint Petersburg), the Alfred-Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Bremerhaven), the Christian Albrechts University Kiel and the Saint Petersburg State University. Chief scientists are Dr. Heidemarie Kassens (GEOMAR) and Dr. Vladimir Ivanov (AARI).
The expedition is funded by the above-mentioned institutions, and the BMBF, the Russian Ministry for Education and Science and Roshydromet. It is part of the joint Russian-German project "CATS: The Changing Arctic Transpolar System".