Programme presentation

Phase IV

The fourth Phase of the Programme (1997-2000) was launched under the Scientific Support Plan for a Sustainable Development Policy (SPSD I). The overall budget of the phase amounted to 235 MBEF (about 6 MEURO).
In addition Belgium contributed a sum of 20 MBEF (about 0.5 MEURO) to the operational costs of the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA).

Research was organized within seven research lines under three areas:

Marine biota and Global Change

• Meiobenthic biodiversity and fluxes within the Antarctic biogeochemical environment
• Ecofunctional biodiversity of benthic crustacean taxocoenoses in the Southern Ocean
• An integrated approach to assess carbon dynamics in the Southern Ocean
  I: New and export production
  II: Study and modelisation of the planktonic system
  III: Barite geochemistry
  IV: Air/sea exchanges
  V: 1D Modelling of the sea-ice and water column
• Response of the Southern Ocean global ecosystem to physical and trophic constraints
  I: Ecosystem functioning and modelling
  II: Physical modelling
  III: Role of the picophytoplankton

Dynamics of the Southern Ocean

• Study of convective movements in the Southern Ocean

Palaeoenvironmental records

• Mass balance of the Antarctic ice cap (a contribution to EPICA)
• EPICA basal ice - eastern Antarctica
• Dynamics of the Antarctic ice cap and climate changes (a contribution to EPICA)
• Antarctic shelf-slope dynamics: an innovative geophysical approach

More information about the Programme and Projects in general is included in the following publications:

• synopsis
• programme-phase 4
• scientific research results

These publications can be ordered via the "Links & Resources" page.