The TasmanDrake project was set up to study the onset and evolution of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). This year, the TasmanDrake research group will be sailing on board the BIO Hesperides on the expedition Powell2020.
Between 3rd January and 4th February 2020, 22 scientists and 10 technicians will work together with the Hesperides crew, recovering geophysical, geological and oceanographic data in the Powell Basin. This area, located at the northern boundary of the Weddell Sea between the eastern margin of the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Orkney Microcontinent, constitutes a key area to study the main events and processes leading to: 1) the continental break-up and opening of the Drake-Scotia passage and 2) the oceanographic and climatic processes from the Paleogene to the present-day connection between the Weddell Sea and the Southern Ocean.
Powell2020 is the first of two expeditions included in the project ‘Tectonic and oceanographic events involved in the development of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and their links to paleoclimate and ice sheet evolution records’ led by the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) and the Geological Survey of Spain (IGME) in collaboration with several international institutions. The expedition can be followed through the group’s blog and on Twitter (@tasmandrake).