Called ANDEEP-SYSTCO, it is a multidisciplinary co-ordinated approach to global ecosystem research, coupling benthos to pelagic and the atmosphere. The aim of this project is to put together the jigsaw puzzle of the ‘Antarctic deep-sea ecosystem’. It seeks to understand how species interact and what impact the atmosphere has on plants and animals. The project will aim to gain a greater understanding of how the balance between sustainable use of Antarctic ecosystems and their conservation can be found.
This voyage will also be part of the Synoptic Circum-Antarctic Climate Processes and Ecosystems study (SCACE). The study will synoptically collect data that will reveal the distribution of physical, chemical and biological variables along different longitudes around Antarctica simultaneously. This will help to build an improved database for better identifying how these variables interact with each other in Antarctica.
Gear description
Requires the use of satellites, very fine meshed plankton samplers, novel seabed landers, ROVs, plankton suckers, sub-bottom 3.5kHZ profiler, spacecraft monitors and polar research vessels.
