The continental shelf and Arctic Ocean north of Greenland are located in one of the least investigated regions of the Arctic. Even basic data on bathymetry are known only in rudimentary form from historical expeditions, a few scientific ice-floe stations and ice-breaker traverses, and from rare Unit...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.535.6995 http://www.geus.dk/publications/review-greenland-00/gsb189p127-131.pdf |
| Summary: | The continental shelf and Arctic Ocean north of Greenland are located in one of the least investigated regions of the Arctic. Even basic data on bathymetry are known only in rudimentary form from historical expeditions, a few scientific ice-floe stations and ice-breaker traverses, and from rare United States and Russian map compilations. No official Danish nautical charts of the region exist, and it is only within the last 20 years that the coastline of North Greenland facing the Arctic Ocean has been precisely mapped. Interest in the region has increased in recent years through major international efforts such as scientific submarine expeditions (SCICEX), major airborne geo-physical surveys and the release and compilation of formerly classified oceanographic, hydrographic and climate-related data. Analyses of data from the subma-rine cruises have indicated a thinning of the polar sea-ice cover (Rothrock et al. 1999). Another reason for interest in the Arctic Ocean is the possibility for nations bordering the Arctic Ocean to claim an extension of their territorial limits beyond 200 nautical miles (nm) as a consequence of the UN Laws of the Sea Convention (United Nations 1993). Danish research activities in the Arctic Ocean north of Greenland have been restricted to participation in a few international ice-floe scientific stations or ice-breaker expeditions, and recently in airborne geophysical sur-veys. However, airborne measurements can only address a limited number of scientific questions and a broader research effort north of Greenland to gain information on this poorly known region is therefore needed. Any Danish/Greenlandic claim for an extension into the Arctic Ocean of the current 200 nm territorial limit must be supported by basic data sets on hydrography and geology, and in this context the Commission for Scientific Research in Greenland initiated in 1998 a dis-Studies of sea-ice conditions north of Greenland: results from a pilot GRASP initiative on the extension of territo-rial limits into the Arctic ... |
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