07.12.2015 Research Vessel Sonne in the South Pacific

ULTRAPAC: Research Vessel Sonne in the South Pacific
17 December 2015 -28 February 2016

The Pacific Ocean covers more than one third of the earth's surface, making it the largest ocean. Its seawater is the clearest in the world and the seafloor has the lowest content of organic matter found in the deep sea. Now a team of marine scientists headed by the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology crosses the South Pacific Gyre (SPG) from the west coast of Chile up to New Zealand aboard the research vessel Sonne. They want to find out how its smallest inhabitants manage to survive in this nutrient-poor water desert. Recent studies suggest that the nutrient and carbon cycles of the microbial communities are adapted to the so-called ultra-oligotrophic conditions and the great South Pacific Gyre plays a significant role for global nitrogen fixation.

Chief scientist is Timothy Ferdelman.

Bloggers are

Greta Reintjes and Clara Martinez Perez

Left: The route across the Pacific. Right: Research Vessel Sonne. More informations here.

Contact:
Dr. Manfred Schloesser
Press officer
Tel.: +49 421 2028 704
Mail: mschloes(at)mpi-bremen.de

Dr. Fanni Aspetsberger
Press officer
Tel.: +49 421 2028 645
Mail: faspetsb(at)mpi-bremen.de

MPI-Bremen
Max-Planck-Institut für Marine Mikrobiologie
Celsiusstr.1,
D-28359 Bremen/ Germany
www.mpi-bremen.de
email: tferdelm(at)mpi-bremen.de

ICBM
Institut für Chemie und Biologie des Meeres
Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
Car-von-Ossietzky-Str. 9-11
D-26129 Oldenburg/ Germany
www.icbm.de
email: icbm(at)uni-oldenburg.de

NOC
National Oceanographic Centre
University of Southampton Waterfront Campus
European Way
Southampton SO14 3ZH / United Kingdom
http://noc.ac.uk/contact
email: mvz(at)noc.ac.uk

NUIG
National University of Ireland Galway
School of Natural Sciences
Quadrangle Building, University Road
Galway/ Ireland
www.nuigalway.ie
email: peter.croot(at)nuigalway.ie

NIOZ
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ)
P.O. Box 59
NL-1790 AB, Den Burg
The Netherlands
www.nioz.nl
Email: jbstuut(at)nioz.nl

LDEO
Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory
Columbia University Earth Institute
61 Route 9w
Palisades, NY 10964/USA
www.ldeo.columbia.edu
email: boba(at)ldeo.columbia.edu

UCNC
Facultad Ciencias del Mar
Universidad Catolica del Norte
Larrondo 1281
Coquimbo, Chile
Tel.: 56 51 2209939
email: thiel(at)ucn.cl