Page 9 - living-ice

Arctic SIZE
The land masses and sections of the continental shelf surrounding the Arctic Ocean differ greatly between regions. This regionality combined with different types of sea ice (old or more recent drift ice), river drainage from land and the varying depths of the ocean creates different types of ecosystems. Given this diversity of Arctic Ocean ecosystems and the ongoing changes, there is limited knowledge about the ecology in the drift ice zone. Far greater knowledge is required to understand and manage the ecology of the Arctic Ocean, and to understand the importance the Arctic has for the global climate.
As the location and size of the ice-covered area varies so dramatically from season to season, the entire area alternating between ice-cover and open water it is referred to as a seasonal ice zone. Through extensive research, the participants of the Arctic Seasonal Ice Zone (Arctic SIZE) research programme aim to improve our knowledge of the region of the world most affected by climate change – the Arctic Ocean and the Arctic drift ice zone. For practical reasons, the programme is focusing on the European part. However, the researchers participating in Arctic SIZE also have a circumpolar per- spective and are working closely with researchers from around the world to interpret the results from a Pan-Arctic perspective. This means that they perceive the Arctic as a circumpolar area consisting of a mediterranean sea surrounded by large land masses.
ILL.: REIBO, BASED ON ILLUSTRATION BY MALIN DAASE, UiT