At the North Pole

On 22 August 2012 at 21:43 UTC Oden reached the North Pole for the 7th time. The arrival at the North Pole was celebrated by raising the flags of the countries represented on board Oden. After a glass of sparkling wine on the bridge and a group photo on the sea ice in front of Oden, the ship continued with its scientific programme. Photo: Björn Eriksson

The area north of Greenland is one of three areas off Greenland where the continental shelf might be extended beyond 200 nautical miles, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), article 76. The technical data needed for drafting a submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) include geodetic, bathymetric, geophysical, and geological data. Acquisition of the necessary data poses substantial logistical problems due to the area’s ice conditions.

The LOMROG III cruise aboard the icebreaker Oden was organized in cooperation with the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat and costs were split between Denmark (80%) and Sweden (20%).

The main objectives were:

  1. to acquire bathymetric data on the flank of the Lomonosov Ridge facing the Amundsen Basin, supported by conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) casts taken from both Oden and the sea ice and supplemented by single-beam spot soundings obtained using Oden’s helicopter,
  2. to acquire seismic data in the Amundsen Basin and on the Lomonosov Ridge,
  3. to acquire gravity data along Oden’s track,
  4. to dredge along the flank of the Lomonosov Ridge facing the Amundsen Basin,
  5. to support other Danish research projects, and
  6. to support Swedish research projects (reported separately).

The LOMROG III cruise started on 31 July 2012 in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, where it also ended on 14 September 2012. By agreement with the Norwegian Fram 2012 expedition led by Yngve Kristoffersen, University of Bergen, Oden provided fuel and other supplies to the expedition’s hovercraft Sabvabaa twice during the LOMROG III cruise. One member of the Fram 2012 expedition boarded Oden on the way back to Longyearbyen on Svalbard.

Sabvabaa

The Norwegian hovercraft Sabvabaa. Photo: Björn Eriksson

During LOMROG III, synoptic weather observations were made at 06:00, 12:00, and 18:00 UTC and were sent to the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) and then further to the global meteorological community.

The many results of the LOMROG III cruise could not have been obtained without the excellent cooperation between the crew of Oden, the helicopter crew, and the science party. The cooperation between the various science groups made it possible to make very efficient use of the resources on board Oden and provided by the helicopter.

All members of Oden’s crew, the helicopter crew, and the scientific party are thanked for their commitment to making this cruise so successful.

LOMROG III was the last cruise to the area north of Greenland as part of the Continental Shelf Project of the Kingdom of Denmark and therefore represents the end of the very successful cooperation between the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat. It is hoped that the valuable experience gained during the three LOMROG cruises (in 2007, 2009, and 2012) and the EAGER cruise (2011) can be useful for future cruises of Oden to the Arctic Ocean.