fjord ecosystem structure and function on the west ... · the west antarctic peninsula fjords – -...
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Andvord
Bay
Flandres
Bay
3 – 100 kg m-2
Euphausia superba aggregations
May-June 2010
M. Zhou, unpubl.
Wilhelmina
Bay
Fjord Ecosystem Structure and Function on the
West Antarctic Peninsula - Hotspots of Productivity and
Biodiversity? (FjordEco)
The West Antarctic Peninsula Fjords –
- Extensive and rapidly warming system of sub-polar fjords
with tidal glaciers
- These fjords are hotspots of benthic and pelagic productivity
and biodiversity (krill, whales, seals, penguins) , but causes
and sensitivity to climate warming very poorly understood.
2 million tons of krill,
> 400 feeding
humpback whales in
single fjord
623 sea cucumbers per m2
Hotspots of benthic
abundance
To determine:
1) What physical, glaciological, biological and chemical
processes interact to enhance fjord productivity and
biodiversity?
(2) Conduct ecosystem modeling to explore how
sensitive these fjord ecosystems are to climate warming
(e.g.,, increased meltwater and sediment inputs).
Andvord Bay
Newly funded NSF project to conduct 15-month field program from Andvord Bay onto
open shelf to study oceanographic and glaciological forcing, and phytoplankton and
benthic community response -
We will have two process oriented research
cruises to the Antarctic fjords with berths
and opportunities for GES research
projects:
18 Nov – 31 Dec 2015: 1 – 2 GES student
berths
31 Mar – 20 May 2016: 2 – 3 GES students if
can cover own travel to Punta Arenas
Opportunities for research projects on
seafloor ecology, pelgic-benthic coupling,
physical oceanography.