Research

We conduct pioneering interdisciplinary oceanographic research, addressing scientific problems in a comprehensive and collaborative manner.
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Research Lines
219
Publications
36
Researchers

What is our main area of concern?

The eastern South Pacific Ocean is IMO’s main object of study because it has sharp hydrographic, biochemical and ecological gradients, ranging from extremely productive waters in the Humboldt Current to highly oligotrophic waters in the Subtropical Gyre.

Additionally, in the last decade, the scientific community has acquired an important understanding of the structure and functioning of the Humboldt Current. However, little is known about the vast region of oceanic waters and about the mesoscale activity connecting contrasting environments. At IMO we want to focus part of our research on this oceanic zone.

What is the impact of research in the eastern South Pacific?

It is clear that the dynamics of the eastern South Pacific have a global impact because it is a region where important Antarctic Intermediate Waters are formed. It has strong atmospheric-oceanic connections and coastal-ocean exchanges with the equatorial ocean and contains one of the world’s largest oxygen minimum zones (OMZs).

The peculiarities of the ecosystems in the eastern South Pacific make them natural laboratories for the study of the functioning of the ocean and for the prediction of the way in which ecosystems could react to future global changes. These studies will provide the basis for the management and conservation of the unique ecosystems in this oceanic region.

Research lines

The Deep Ocean

What are the community structures and the biogeochemical characteristics of deep and abyssal waters in the eastern South Pacific?

Adapting to a Changing Ocean

How do key functional groups of plankton adapt to chemical changes in oceans and how does this affect biochemical cycles?

Oceanic Variability

How do large-scale perturbations affect water transport, physical-chemical gradients and dynamics in the eastern South Pacific?

The Deep Ocean

What are the physical and biogeochemical characteristics of deep and ultra-deep waters of the eastern South Pacific, and which of those determine the diversity and functional structure of their pelagic communities?

Mesoscale Processes

What is the role of mesoscale activity in the regulation of energy-matter transfer and ecosystem dynamics in oceanic waters?

A Variable and Changing Ocean

Associate researchers

Osvaldo Ulloa, PhD.

Professor @ UDEC

Rubén Escribano, PhD.

Professor @ UDEC

Oscar Pizarro, PhD.

Professor @ UDEC

Wolfgang Schneider, PhD.

Professor @ UDEC

Cristian Vargas, PhD.

Associate Professor @ UDEC

Peter von Dassow, PhD.

Associate Professor @ PUC
Meet our researchers

Latest publications

A source of isotopically light organic carbon in a low-pH anoxic marine zone

Nature Communications | Volume 12, Issue 1604, Pages 1-11

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21871-4March, 2021

Vargas, C.A.Sepúlveda, J.De Pol-Holz, R.Schneider, W.Cornejo, M.Cantarero, S.Galán, A.Farias, L.........,
AT

The cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus has divergent light-harvesting antennae and may have evolved in a low-oxygen ocean

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | Volume 118, Issue 11, Pages 1-6

doi:10.1073/pnas.2025638118March, 2021

Ulloa, O.Henríquez, C.Ramírez-Flandes, S.Murillo, A.A.M. Plominsky, A.Morgan-Lang, C.Hallam, S.J
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Local and remote physical processes driving variability of the planktonic system in the Juan Fernández Archipelago: A multidisciplinary framework providing conservation insights

Aquatic Conservation Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems | Volume 31, Pages 253-272

doi:10.1002/aqc.3499February, 2021

Parada, C.Escribano, R.Morales, C.E.Ernst, B.Cornejo-Guzmán, S.Santa Cruz, F.Sandoval-Belmar, M.Rivara, P.........,
AT

Distribution and biodiversity patterns of hyperiid amphipods across the coastal-offshore gradient of the sub-tropical Southeast Pacific

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The community structure of hyperiid amphipods associated with two seamount regions in the South-east Pacific

Journal of the Marine Biological Association UK (JMBA) | Pages 1-12

doi:10.1017/S0025315420001344January, 2021

Espinosa, L.Medellín-Mora, JohanaCorredor-Acosta, A.Escribano, R.
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