主要研究 今天

Scientists from the University of New Hampshire have made history as part of a team aboard the Swedish icebreaker ODEN, which is the first vessel to navigate the remote and icy Victoria Fjord in North Greenland and collect data in this uncharted area. The information they are gathering will provide insight into the rapid melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet and enhance scientists’ understanding of the effects of climate change on global sea-level rise.

“以前没有其他船只到过北极的这个地区,拉里·梅耶尔说, a professor and director of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (CCOM) at the University of New Hampshire. “In getting here we have encountered some of the most remarkable scenery and lighting I have ever seen while collecting data that will inevitably have significant scientific value .”

“以前没有其他船只到过北极的这个地区. In getting here we have encountered some of the most remarkable scenery and lighting I have ever seen while collecting data that will inevitably have significant scientific value."

联合国大学的研究小组是2024年格陵兰岛北部地质观测项目的一部分, 由瑞典极地研究秘书处组织, which is working to learn more about the melting of the Greenland ice sheet — the largest contributor to global sea level rise. The team encountered heavy ice in the Lincoln Sea and was blocked from heading too far into the fjord because of icebergs but the ODEN managed to travel far enough into the fjord to allow them to achieve their scientific objectives.

“The glacier teams have flown by helos to the end of the fjord to see how the glacier transitions into the ocean and it has been amazing — nothing like the other fjords we studied (Petermann and Sherard Osborn) where there was a sharp transition at the end of an ice shelf,梅耶尔说. “Here it is a huge mixture of giant cracks and crevices and massive pieces of ice all broken up — there is no simple ice front here.” 

The 主要研究 researchers are using a small robotic Seafloor Systems Echoboat vehicle equipped with a Norbit multibeam sonar to map the seafloor and record the shape of glaciers and icebergs below the surface. The Echoboat allows scientists to map in areas that are too shallow or dangerous for a larger vessel to approach. 这个三人小组夜以继日地工作, 轮流睡觉, mapping the deep ocean floor using a large multibeam echosounder mounted on the Icebreaker ODEN and deploying the robotic vehicle to map hard to navigate areas like the underside of large icebergs. The information they collect will provide important data that can be used in scientific modeling that could help more accurately predict the processes effecting the melting of glaciers that are associated with global sea level rise.

“我们对维多利亚峡湾知之甚少, 包括有多深, how deep the glaciers are on either side and the depth of the underwater ridges at the entrance of the fjord,梅耶尔说.

峡湾是一个长、深、窄的海入口，向海洋开放. 在之前的研究中, the same Swedish and American teams found that the underwater ridges in the fjords can play a major role in controlling the melting of the glacier. 来自大西洋的温水能够进入有着很深山脊的峡湾, 而那些山脊较浅的企鹅更善于抵御温暖的海水, 这有助于防止冰融化吗.

The expedition is comprised of over 40 researchers from 10 universities and six countries.

主要研究团队的其他成员包括Brian Calder, a research professor and associate director of CCOM and affiliate assistant research professor Elizabeth Weidner ’23G. 您可以在 探险的博客.

2024年格陵兰岛北部地球观测的四名成员, 其中两名来自主要研究, are members of the Explorers Club and this expedition has been selected as an Explorers Club Flag (#35) and Rolex Expedition. The Explorers Club is a world-renowned professional organization with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. 各大洲都飘扬着国旗, 到两极, 到外太空和海洋深处. 

The mapping of this remote ocean frontier also contributes to the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO-Seabed 2030 project, 目标是到2030年绘制所有海洋地图.

这次考察的资金由瑞典研究委员会VR提供, Formas(瑞典可持续发展研究委员会), 欧洲研究委员会, 克努特和爱丽丝·瓦伦堡基金会和美国.S. 美国国家海洋和大气局海洋探测办公室.