Preliminary results of a binational research cruise in the Western Arctic Ocean¹

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only, and does not imply endorsement by the United States Government. Close collaboration among several institutions and many researchers was required to mobilize and carry out the complex scientific program conducted from the Polar Star during P1–93‐AR. Substantial funding was provided by the U.S. Department of State and the Office of Naval Research. We wish to acknowledge the scientific collaboration and support of Richard Z. Poore, Edward R. Landa, and Peter W. Barnes of the U.S. Geological Survey, Walter W. Nassichuk of the Geological Survey of Canada, Glenn A. Jones of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, G. Leonard Johnson of the Office of Naval Research, David L. Clark of the University of Wisconsin, Martin O. Jeffries of the Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska‐Fairbanks, E. U. Curtis Bohlen of the U.S. Department of State, and Thomas Beasley of the U.S. Department of Energy. We also wish to thank the U.S. Coast Guard for its support of the cruise, which was critical to its realization. In particular, the support and encouragement provided by Captain Alan F. Walker and the Ice Operations Division of the Coast Guard is greatly appreciated, as is the assistance provided by the officers and enlisted personnel of the USCGC Polar Star and its aviation detachment.

Abstract

This paper is a condensed version of a report on the preliminary results of a research cruise under the direction of the U. S. Geological Survey, on board the United States Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star to Northwind Ridge and Canada Basin of the Western Arctic Ocean, during the period August 16‐September 15, 1993. Major objectives of the cruise were to: survey the geology of the North‐wind Ridge and Canada Basin; determine whether radionuclide contamination from disposal of solid and liquid nuclear wastes by the former Soviet Union in the Kara and Barents seas had penetrated the North American Arctic; acquire sediment cores in support of research on the history of glaciation in the region; and gain a better understanding of water structure and currents, sea‐ice physics, and sediment and nutrient transport.

Notes

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only, and does not imply endorsement by the United States Government. Close collaboration among several institutions and many researchers was required to mobilize and carry out the complex scientific program conducted from the Polar Star during P1–93‐AR. Substantial funding was provided by the U.S. Department of State and the Office of Naval Research. We wish to acknowledge the scientific collaboration and support of Richard Z. Poore, Edward R. Landa, and Peter W. Barnes of the U.S. Geological Survey, Walter W. Nassichuk of the Geological Survey of Canada, Glenn A. Jones of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, G. Leonard Johnson of the Office of Naval Research, David L. Clark of the University of Wisconsin, Martin O. Jeffries of the Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska‐Fairbanks, E. U. Curtis Bohlen of the U.S. Department of State, and Thomas Beasley of the U.S. Department of Energy. We also wish to thank the U.S. Coast Guard for its support of the cruise, which was critical to its realization. In particular, the support and encouragement provided by Captain Alan F. Walker and the Ice Operations Division of the Coast Guard is greatly appreciated, as is the assistance provided by the officers and enlisted personnel of the USCGC Polar Star and its aviation detachment.