Oases in Sea Ice Are Essential to Life in Antarctica

This video explains the key physical, biological and ecological processes in oases on the Antarctic icy coast — polynyas. Researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Delaware are trying to unveil crucial connections among the physical and biological components in the polynyas and to understand how the Antarctic ecosystem responds to changes in the large-scale environment.

An amination illustrated, edited and created by Aurélie Lebrun du Puytison

Collaborative Research: Polynyas in Coastal Antarctica (PICA): Linking Physical Dynamics to Biological Variability.

PICA project is funded by the National Science Foundation (project #1643901 and 1643735)

Principal Investigators: Weifeng Gordon Zhang, Rubao Ji, Stephanie Jenouvrier, Ted Maksym, Scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Yun Li at University of Delaware

Collaborators: Sara Labrousse postdoctoral scholar at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Also supported by NSF project (PLR-1341558) Phytoplankton Phenology in the Antarctic: Drivers, Patterns, and Implications for the Adelie Penguin

All colleagues and volunteers involved in the research on emperor penguins in Terre Adélie (program 109 supported financially and logistically by the French Polar Institute: Institut Paul Emile Victor, IPEV.) © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution