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30th
International Liège Colloquium on Ocean Hydrodynamics
Hydrodynamical and Ecosystems Processes
in Ice covered Seas of the Southern and Northern Hemispheres
4-8 May 1998, Liège,
Belgium
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Background
At the micro- and mesoscales, the ice covered seas provide
some of the most extreme examples of hydrodynamical forcing of pelagic ecosystems. Hence,
in ice covered seas, there is often exceptionally high coupling between hydrodynamical and
ecosytems processes. The presence of sea ice influences the fluxes of heat, gases and
matter to and from the atmosphere. This play a key role in regulating fluxes of greenhouse
gases (CO2, DMS). The processes of ice formation,
melting, break-up, and retreat strongly influence the vertical structure of the water
column and the rates of nutrient supply, primary production, grazing, and sedimentation.
In addition, at the meso- and macroscales, the ice covered seas are the sites of specific
coupling between atmospheric forcing and ocean circulation, which in turn controls the
three-dimensional distributions of organisms. |
Topics covered
The 30th International Liège Colloquium on Ocean Hydrodynamics
will provide the opportunity for reviewing recent development on processes that connect
hydrodynamics and ecosystems in ice covered seas. These include:
- the physical processes and fluxes that control and structure the
ice and under-ice environments;
- the responses of ice and water column ecosystems to physical
forcing;
- the effects of ice congelation and crystal structure on the
associated biota;
- the thermodynamics of exchanges between ice and water and their
effects on pelagic ecosystems;
- the interactions between ocean and atmosphere, including
ultra-violet radiation and production of DMS;
- the role of sedimentation on the structure and functionning of
benthic communities;
- the pathways of biogenic carbon fluxes and their hydrodynamical
regulation.
Areas of interest
The areas of interest to the Colloquium include, in both Hemispheres:
- the permanently and seasonally ice covered waters;
- the marginal ice zones;
- the polynyas and leads.
Approaches
All approaches are welcome, including: field sampling, series resulting from long-term
moorings and drifting platforms, remote sensing, laboratory experiments, and modelling.
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