Icy Puzzles

The causes and significance of climatic change are hotly debated, and ACEX scientists will contribute literally groundbreaking new data to this discussion. Some think that Arctic ice formation was linked to the closure of the Panamanian seaway, a strait that until about four million years ago linked the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. The seaway closure and the development of the Latin-American land bridge changed ocean circulation patterns and ultimately lowered the salinity of Arctic surface waters leading to ice growth. Others postulate that Arctic sea ice formed earlier, perhaps eight to ten million years ago. The uplift of the Tibetian Plateau could have caused an increased discharge of fresh water via Siberian rivers into the Arctic Basin. Both mechanisms would have made the North Polar Ocean more vulnerable to freezing. The Lomonosov Ridge sediments will help to test these hypotheses. To date, only a few metres of sediment core from the polar ocean have been retrieved. The ACEX expedition aims to core the entire 500 metre sediment sequence.

Under the auspices of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), a group of European Nations have joined together as European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling to make this happen. ECORD Science Operator, a consortium of European institutes (), coordinated by the British Geological Survey, will conduct this expedition. The Swedish Polar Research Secretariat will also play a major role in providing support functions to the expedition.


More: A TRUE "FIRST"