LOMROG II 2009

In 2009, the Danish Continental Shelf Project in collaboration with the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat conducted a cruise with the Swedish icebreaker Oden in the area north of Greenland. The cruise, named LOMROG II, was a continuation of the LOMROG I cruise that took place in 2007. The main objectives of the cruise for the Danish Continental Shelf Project were to acquire the data that were necessary to document a possible claim by Greenland for an extended continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles in the area north of Greenland. These data were:

1. bathymetric data (data concerning water depth) collected with Oden‘s newly installed multibeam echo sounder along the Lomonosov Ridge to map the foot of the slope and the 2,500 m depth contour
2. seismic reflection and refraction seismic in the Amundsen Basin in order to map the sediment thickness below the seabed
3. supplementary bathymetric data (collected using the ship’s helicopter)
4. gravity data (acquired both from the ship and on the ice)
5. geological samples (using piston corer, gravity corer, dredging) wherever possible
6. CTD data in order to process the multibeam data

The Swedish icebreaker Oden (Photo: Thomas Funck, GEUS)

Project description

As was the case during the LOMROG I cruise, acquisition of bathymetric data and geological sampling will be performed in co-operation 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 the beginning of August until the second week of September. The cruise will begin 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 during the LOMROG I cruise. It is anticipated that the ice conditions in the area of the North Pole will make it possible to complete the tasks outlined above (see map below). 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 from the Danish Continental Shelf Project will participate in the cruise; they are employed by 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 media people from Nature & Science, a Swedish teacher and a Swedish artist. If funding is available, further cruises with Oden are planned in the years to come.

Christian Marcussen from the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) was the project leader for the data acquisition carried out as part of the Danish Continental Shelf Project.

3D visualisation of bathymetric data in the Arctic Ocean. Clearly visible is the Lomonosov Ridge that runs from Greenland/Canada towards the Russian continental shelf and divides the Arctic Ocean into two parts. Also, the active spreading centre at the Gakkel Ridge is very prominent. 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)