TY - JOUR
T1 - Overview of the MOSAiC expedition
T2 - Ecosystem
AU - Fong, Allison A.
AU - Hoppe, Clara Jule Marie
AU - Aberle-Malzahn, Nicole
AU - Ashjian, Carin
AU - Assmy, Philipp
AU - Bai, Youcheng
AU - Bakker, Dorothee
AU - Bozzato, Deborah
AU - Flores, Hauke
AU - Stefels, Jacqueline
PY - 2024/8/21
Y1 - 2024/8/21
N2 - The international and interdisciplinary sea-ice drift expedition “The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate” (MOSAiC) was conducted from October 2019 to September 2020. The aim of MOSAiC was to study the interconnected physical, chemical, and biological characteristics and processes from the atmosphere to the deep sea of the central Arctic system. The ecosystem team addressed current knowledge gaps and explored unknown biological properties over a complete seasonal cycle focusing on three major research areas: biodiversity, biogeochemical cycles, and linkages to the environment. In addition to the measurements of core properties along a complete seasonal cycle, dedicated projects covered specific processes and habitats, or organisms on higher taxonomic or temporal resolution in specific time windows. A wide range of sampling instruments and approaches, including sea-ice coring, lead sampling with pumps, rosette-based water sampling, plankton nets, remotely operated vehicles, and acoustic buoys, was applied to address the science objectives. Further, a broad range of process-related measurements to address, for example, productivity patterns, seasonal migrations, and diversity shifts, were made both in situ and onboard RV Polarstern. This article provides a detailed overview of the sampling approaches used to address the three main science objectives. It highlights the core sampling program and provides examples of habitat- or process-specific sampling. The initial results presented include high biological activities in wintertime and the discovery of biological hotspots in underexplored habitats. The unique interconnectivity of the coordinated sampling efforts also revealed insights into cross-disciplinary interactions like the impact of biota on Arctic cloud formation. This overview further presents both lessons learned from conducting such a demanding field campaign and an outlook on spin-off projects to be conducted over the next years.
AB - The international and interdisciplinary sea-ice drift expedition “The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate” (MOSAiC) was conducted from October 2019 to September 2020. The aim of MOSAiC was to study the interconnected physical, chemical, and biological characteristics and processes from the atmosphere to the deep sea of the central Arctic system. The ecosystem team addressed current knowledge gaps and explored unknown biological properties over a complete seasonal cycle focusing on three major research areas: biodiversity, biogeochemical cycles, and linkages to the environment. In addition to the measurements of core properties along a complete seasonal cycle, dedicated projects covered specific processes and habitats, or organisms on higher taxonomic or temporal resolution in specific time windows. A wide range of sampling instruments and approaches, including sea-ice coring, lead sampling with pumps, rosette-based water sampling, plankton nets, remotely operated vehicles, and acoustic buoys, was applied to address the science objectives. Further, a broad range of process-related measurements to address, for example, productivity patterns, seasonal migrations, and diversity shifts, were made both in situ and onboard RV Polarstern. This article provides a detailed overview of the sampling approaches used to address the three main science objectives. It highlights the core sampling program and provides examples of habitat- or process-specific sampling. The initial results presented include high biological activities in wintertime and the discovery of biological hotspots in underexplored habitats. The unique interconnectivity of the coordinated sampling efforts also revealed insights into cross-disciplinary interactions like the impact of biota on Arctic cloud formation. This overview further presents both lessons learned from conducting such a demanding field campaign and an outlook on spin-off projects to be conducted over the next years.
U2 - 10.1525/elementa.2023.00135
DO - 10.1525/elementa.2023.00135
M3 - Article
SN - 2325-1026
VL - 12
JO - Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene
JF - Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene
IS - 1
M1 - 00135
ER -