Objectives

The overarching objective of the expedition is to delineate the impact of contrasted glacial regimes on the structure of shallow benthic communities in a fast-warming region of the Southern Ocean. The idea is to refine insights gained in the plasticities of these communities in the framework of the RECTO/vERSO projects. This objective will be tackled using a multi-faceted approach, as determined in the RECTO project. This approach is matched by the complementary competences of the scientific crew.

Main Scientific Questions

The expedition will be a unique opportunity to address a series of underlying scientific/logistic questions, including:

to map the marine habitats in selected locations from the Gerlache Strait
to assess the levels of biodiversity in an underexplored area of the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP)
to model trophic networks in fast-changing environmental conditions
to test the efficiency of a nimble sampling platform for Antarctic marine biodiversity works and its potential to rapidly fill knowledge gaps
to characterise the levels of (micro)plastic contamination, including adsorbed pollutants (organic and inorganic) in various compartments (biotic and “abiotic” of the marine realm)