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"LOMROG II - 2009"
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Print date: Thursday, September 9 2010 - 18:34
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LOMROG II - 2009


Field reports

The Danish Continental Shelf Project in collaboration with the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat is planning a cruise with the Swedish Polar icebreaker Oden in 2009 in the Arctic Ocean north of Greenland. The cruise is a continuation of the LOMROG I cruise that took place in 2007 (more information at a76.dk/expeditions_uk ). Therefore the name of the cruise: LOMROG II. ).

The main objectives of the cruise for the Danish Continental Shelf Project are to acquire data, which are necessary to document a possible claim for an extended continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles in the area north of Greenland:

  1. bathymetric data with Oden's newly installed multibeam echo sounder along the Lomonosov Ridge to map the foot of the slope and the 2500 meter depth curve
  2. reflection- and refraction seismic data in the Amundsen Basin in order to map the sediment thickness
  3. supplementary bathymetric data using the ship's helicopter
  4. gravity data both from the ship and on the ice
  5. geological samples (piston corer, gravity corer, dredging) wherever suitable
  6. CTD data in order to process the multibeam data
Den svenske isbryder Oden The Swedish icebreaker Oden – Photo: Swedish Polar Research Secretariat

As during LOMROG acquisition of bathymetric data and geological sampling will be performed in cooperation with Martin Jakobsson's group at Stockholm University. Furthermore the excellent collaboration with the Canadian Continental Shelf Project will be continued during the LOMROG II cruise and a scientist from VNIIOkeangeologia in St. Petersburg will also participate.

The cruise is planned to last six weeks and will take place from beginning of August to the second week of September. The cruise will start and end in Longyearbyen on Svalbard.

Since Oden will not be supported by a Russian nuclear icebreaker like in 2007, Oden will only be able to operate in areas with lighter ice conditions than experienced in 2007. It is anticipated that Oden can operate on its own in the vicinity of the North Pole. The actual cruise area will depend on the ice conditions that prevail in the area but the cruise will of course focus on the area north of Greenland (see map below - red circle). If ice conditions are too severe in the Arctic Ocean the area off North-East Greenland around the East Greenland Ridge will be an alternative working area.

18 people will participate from the Danish Continental Shelf Project in the cruise: from the Danish Meteorological Institute, the Danish National Space Institute, the Danish Maritime Safety Administration, Aarhus University and the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.

Apart from collecting data for the Danish Continental Shelf Project several other scientific projects from Sweden, Denmark and Greenland/USA will be on board Oden as well as two Danish media people, a Swedish teacher and a Swedish artist.

If funding is available, further cruises with Oden offshore Northeast Greenland and north of Greenland are planned for the coming years.

More information is available from the project leader of the Greenland part of the Danish Continental Shelf Project:
Christian Marcussen, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), ุster Voldgade 10, DK1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark, phone +45 38 14 25 09, e-mail .

3D visualisation of bathymetric data in the Arctic Ocean
3D visualisation of bathymetric data in the Arctic Ocean. The Lomonosov Ridge, which runs from Greenland / Canada towards the Russian continental shelf dividing the Arctic Ocean in to two parts, is clearly visible as is the active spreading ridge - the Gakkel Ridge. Bathymetric data acquired during the LOMROG cruise in 2007 are also shown. The red circle shows the planned working area for the LOMROG II cruise. (Map: Martin Jakobsson - IBCAO 2.23)