A - C
ANDEEP-SYSTCO
Short Title: ANDEEP-SYSTCO Project URL: http://www.polarjahr.de/ANDEEP-SYSTCO.248+M52087573ab0.0.html Proposal URL: http://classic.ipy.org/development/eoi/proposal-details.php?id=66 The scientific objectives of ANtarctic benthic DEEP-sea biodiversity: colonisation history and recent community patterns - SYSTem COupling (ANDEEP - SYSTCO) are: -to build on the international and interdisciplinary investigations which were begun during ANDEEP I-III. -to add a novel, innovative aspect to polar biological research - and to ANDEEP - by involving scientists from different disciplines, such as atmospheric sciences, climatology, hydrography, planktology, physical oceanography, geophysics, geology, sedimentology, bathymetry etc. to shed light on atmospheric-pelagic-benthic coupling processes. -to broaden the scientific scope of ANDEEP, by the use of innovative technology (modern satellites, very fine-meshed plankton samplers, novel sea-bed landers, ROVs, plankton suctors, etc., to train a new generation of polar scientists. Important issues addressed are: Atmosphere: measurements of parameters like aerosols, ozone, reflectivity, UV irradiance, or volcanic activity (SO2) via spacecrafts (e.g. Adeos, Nimbus, OMI) will for example inform about the particle load of the atmosphere, and the magnitude of light penetration (e g. Cryosat for surface fluxes and vertical profiles of the fluxes in the atmospheric boundary layer). Plankton: influence of atmospheric processes on processes in the water column, of the biogeochemistry of the surface water on primary productivity, the importance (e.g. biomass and diversity) of the nanoplankton in the food web, vertical changes in the plankton community to abyssal depths. Benthos: biology of abyssal key species. Role of the bottom-nepheloid for recruitment (larvae) of benthic animals (plankton suctor). Influence of quantity and quality of food sinking through the water column for abyssal life. Functional morphology & physiology of abyssal animals. Seabed characteristics: Effects of sedimentology, biogeochemistry, and pore water on benthic life in time and space (palaeontology). Sedimentation rates and processes over time (geophysics, sub-bottom 3.5 kHZ profiler; detailed bathymetric mapping). ANDEEP-SYSTCO is a multi-national IPY project that contributes to EBA and CAML.