The icebreaker Oden is primarily a research platform but it is also a good place to have a coffee and meet new friends. Photo: Björn Eriksson

The icebreaker Oden is primarily a research platform but it is also a good place to have a coffee and meet new friends. Photo: Björn Eriksson

The 2008/09 Oden Southern Ocean expedition to the Amundsen Sea was the third Antarctic scientific expedition coordinated by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat and the Swedish Research Council.

The focus of the cruise was on improving knowledge of fundamental processes governing the distribution and production of greenhouse gases (halocarbons and CO2), as well as studying the dynamics and evolution of epidemic diseases in seals. In addition a physical oceanographic project aimed to investigate the influence of glacier melt water on the water mass structure in the Amundsen Sea.

The ship left Montevideo, Uruguay, on the 26th of November 2008 and reached McMurdo station in the Ross Sea on the 6th of January 2009. Most sampling stations were occupied in the Amundsen Sea and some stations were performed along a transect in the Ross Sea towards McMurdo Sound. During the course of the cruise thirteen 8-hour ice stations were occupied, as well as four 24-hour stations. On 44 stations the water column was sampled for the analysis of chemical and biological properties. Sea ice cover was the primary factor in determining the positions of the stations. Two participants from polar teacher programmes were also onboard, taking part in different research projects.