International Weddell Sea Oceanographic Expeditions

The International Weddell Sea Oceanographic Expeditions or IWSOE are a series of scientific research expeditions to the Weddell Sea begun in 1967, involving cooperation among Norway, Canada, Chile and the United States.

Weddell Sea ice formation (Shackleton expedition 1916)

The Weddell Sea, part of the Southern Ocean, is a unique scientific research environment. The outflow of Weddell Sea Bottom Water and Antarctic Bottom Water formed in the Weddell and Ross Seas is a major source of oceanic deep water and changes affecting the formation of these water masses are liable to have an effect on the circulation of deep water globally.[1] The water of the Weddell Sea is about 1400 m deep at its deepest point; it is exceptionally clear (the Secchi disk visibility reading at 80 metres recorded in the Weddell Sea on 13 October 1986 was the deepest ever, at the theoretical maximum in absolutely pure water).[2] Much of the southern part of the sea is permanent ice, the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, which can be up to 600 m thick.[3]

IWSOE research projects have involved a variety of institutions and covered a wide range of disciplines.

For example, in 1969 scientists from the Universities of Bergen (Norway) and Minnesota, Connecticut and California, Los Angeles (USA), and the US Coast Guard Oceanographic Unit studied the formation of Antarctic Bottom Water, the population density and diversity of the deep sea benthos of the Weddell Sea, the population dynamics of Antarctic seals and sedimentation processes in the Weddell Sea and carried out physical, chemical and photographic oceanographic surveys.[4]

Other subjects of IWSOE research include the Weddell Sea currents and the biology of krill, a species of zooplankton abundant in the area.

USCGC Glacier at McMurdo Sound (Ross Sea)

The expeditions were initially led aboard the USCGC Glacier, an icebreaker modified for oceanographic research which in 1968 was the first ship to cross the Weddell Sea from the edge of the ice pack to the continental landmass.[4][5][6][7][8] At the time, the Glacier was the world's largest icebreaker.[5]

References
  1. "The Antarctic CORC/ARCHES Expedition - Reports From the Field, week of 7 May 2003", Columbia University Earth Institute News, posted 04/10/03, accessed 5 March 2011
  2. W.W.C. Gieskes, C. Veth, A. Woehrmann and M.Graefe, EOS, 1987, reported at the Secchi Dip-In website Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 5 March 2011
  3. "Antarctic Ice Velocity Data", National Snow and Ice Data Center, Antarctic Glaciological Data Center, accessed 5 March 2011
  4. Introduction, page 1, "Oceanography of the Weddell Sea in 1969" by Gary L. Hufford and Lcdr. James M. Seabrooke, United States Coast Guard Oceanographic Report No. 31, publ. Washington DC, Feb. 1970, accessed 1 March 2011
  5. "Har du møtt Peder pingvin?" [CMR Årsrapport 07] (PDF). CMR Annual report 07. Historikk (in Norwegian and English). Bergen, Norway: Christian Michelsen Research AS: 24. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  6. Michel, Robert L. (1978). "Tritium Distributions in Weddell Sea Water Masses". Journal of Geophysical Research. 83 (C12): 6192–6198. doi:10.1029/jc083ic12p06192.
  7. Ross, Robin M.; Eileen Elizabeth Hofmann; Langdon B. Quetin (1996). Robin M. Ross; Eileen Elizabeth Hofmann; Langdon B. Quetin (eds.). Foundations for ecological research West of the Antarctic Peninsula. American Geophysical Union. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-87590-891-5. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  8. Fred's Place website USCGC Glacier Archive, personal report by SO1 John Murphy of Glacier's 1968 IWSOE Weddell Sea voyage, accessed 1 March 2011
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