The polar and sub-polar regions of the world are strongly impacted by climate change, so also the southern regions of Patagonia, namely the Beagle Channel and the adjacent fjord systems. Here, glacier melting releases considerable amounts of freshwater and particulate matter in the marine coastal areas. This has, in addition with the increasing human utilization of hitherto pristine coastal areas, potential consequences for the marine ecosystem. However, their assessment is currently difficult as observational data in these regions are generally scarce.

The DynAMo project brings together an interdisciplinary group of scientists and engineers from Argentina, Chile, and Germany that investigates the ongoing changes in the Beagle Channel area. This includes the establishment of a marine-terrestrial observation network with focus on automated sensor technologies to overcome the lack of long-term data. They will measure oceanographic, biogeochemical, and bio-optical variables on a regular basis, supplemented by discrete molecular analyses. In order to provide a baseline for future observations, a research cruise (“FjordFlux”) with the German research vessel METEOR will be conducted in Austral summer 2021/2022 in the research area of the project.