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Press Release Archive

25.11.2015

Autumn gales again drive salt into the Baltic: Third Major Baltic Inflow within 1.5 years.

From November 14 – 22, huge amounts of North Sea waters rich in oxygen entered the Baltic Sea again. It was a series of 12 storm fronts passing the Baltic Sea region since the beginning of November, which had triggered this event. According to first calculations a water volume of 76 km³ with a salt content of 17-22 g/kg passed the narrow and shallow Western Baltic Sea during the main inflow period. This sums up to approximately 1.4 giga-tons of salt being transported into the Baltic. Such an event can be classified as a Major Baltic Inflow of moderate intensity. Currently, this water mass can be traced in a water depth of 45-25 m in the Arkona Basin.

04.11.2015

Review of an exceptional year: Baltic Sea status report 2014 for the first time available in English

The yearly IOW assessment of the hydrographic-hydrochemical status of the Baltic Sea is an important component of the HELCOM monitoring programme. This year, for the first time, IOW has published the report for 2014 in English as a service specifically targeted at international experts and stakeholders in the Baltic littoral states. Especially the documentation of last year’s exceptional salt water inflow events is of particular interest for the Baltic expert community.

06.10.2015

New department head
for “Physical Oceanography and Instrumentation” at IOW

On October 1, 2015, Prof. Markus Meier started in his new position as head of the department “Physical Oceanography and Instrumentation” at IOW. Previously, the expert for theoretical oceanography and climate modelling headed the oceanographic research unit of the internationally renowned Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI).

17.09.2015

First full-coverage underwater biotope map of the German Baltic Sea developed at IOW

An IOW research team has generated the first map that provides a full-coverage description of the underwater biotopes of the German Baltic Sea and the German EEZ by combining information about species communities with information about abiotic habitat traits.

04.09.2015

Gone with the wind: A new project focusses on atmospheric input of phosphorus into the Baltic Sea

In August, the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) received the funding approval from the German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) referring to a two-year pilot study on the atmospheric input of phosphorus in the Southern Baltic Sea. The project started with the beginning of September.

31.08.2015

Research on oxygen minimum zones: International team of experts develops white paper

From August 30 to September 1, 2015, the IOW hosts a workshop of high-ranking international experts from the SCOR working group “Microbial Community Reponses to Ocean Deoxygenation”. The workshop aims at developing guide lines, which provide an orientation for researchers worldwide to standardize and optimize their work on OMZ.

24.08.2015

Time travel into the past of marginal seas: IOW expedition explores Canadian coastal waters

Why and how have coastal waters undergone environmental changes during the last dec-ades and centuries? Is it possible to distinguish between natural processes and anthropo-genic influences that drive these changes? These questions are guiding the current IOW expedition of the research vessel MARIA S. MERIAN into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

20.08.2015

First comprehensive microplastic survey in the Baltic Sea underway

On August 17, an IOW team headed out on the research vessel POSEIDON for a survey of microplastic in the Baltic Sea that includes up to 50 sampling stations.

29.07.2015

Gotcha! Microbial “methane eaters” use gas bubbles to rise from the seafloor into the water column

Novel bubble catcher provides proof of a so far unknown transport process, with potential implications for the reduction of the greenhouse gas methane in the marine environment

28.07.2015

Cold „Hotspots“: METEOR expedition takes a close look at upwelling zones in the Baltic Sea

On July 23, the METEOR set to sea for her second big research cruise this year. Under IOW lead the German research vessel will spend the first month in the Baltic Sea, where the research will focus on biochemical processes of upwelling zones.