Contact:
Dr. Heidemarie Kassens         hkassens@geomar.de (Subproject Leader)
Prof. Martin Frank                   mfrank(at)geomar.de
Georgi Laukert                        glaukert(at)geomar.de
Dr. Carolyn Wegner                cwegner(at)geomar.de

Subproject 1a focuses on changes in water mass and matter transport within the Transpolar System from the Siberian inflow in the Laptev Sea to the surface outflow area in the Fram Strait. To study the impact of these changes on water mass exchange processes in the Fram Strait on the one hand and on the abiotic factors in the sensitive Siberian ecosystem on the other, the distribution of radiogenic neodymium isotope ratios and Rare Earth Elements in seawater (Nd; see Factsheet) will be examined in combination with the variability of horizontal and vertical matter fluxes (see Factsheet). The results of detailed summer measurement campaigns in the Fram Strait and on the Laptev Sea shelf will be linked to long-term observational data in the Laptev Sea. For this purpose, seafloor observatories were deployed for a one-year period during TRANSDRIFT XXI expedition in 2013. They were recovered successfully during TRANSDRIFT XXII in 2014 and recorded oceanographic (temperature, salinity, currents) and optical (turbidity, acoustic backscatter, see Factsheet ADCP) data on the inflow and outflow of the Transpolar System on the Laptev Sea shelf.