Arctic Researchers Will Lock This Ship In Ice For A Year To Study The Changing Polar Region

In 1893, Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen of Norway deliberately froze his wooden ship, the Fram, into the drifting sea ice north of Siberia. His rationale: Rather than fighting the ice, which had thwarted previous efforts to reach the North Pole, he’d allow the ice itself to carry him close to his goal. His polar bid failed, but 3 years later the wandering pack had carried the Fram some 2000 kilometers across the Arctic to the open North Atlantic Ocean, making Nansen an international hero. His mission revealed fundamental facts about the mysterious Arctic Ocean, including its depth, the enormity of its pack ice, and the currents that move heat, water, and ice across the top of the world.

Next month, an international expedition led by the German icebreaker Polarstern will pay homage to Nansen’s strategy in the biggest Arctic science expedition to date. The ship will depart Tromsø, Norway, in late September, then let itself become trapped in the ice. Researchers plan to spend the next 13 months drifting past the North Pole before returning to Germany in the fall of 2020.

During the voyage, some 600 scientists from 17 countries will conduct studies as part of the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC), which will also involve a host of aircraft and other icebreakers. Eight years in the making, the $134 million MOSAiC will monitor the rapidly changing Arctic’s physical, geo-chemical, and biological systems, from the start of sea-ice growth in the fall through its breakup the following summer. “For an Arctic marine biologist this expedition is a dream come true,” says Rolf Gradinger, of the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø.

Led by the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany, MOSAiC faces major logistical challenges. Locked in the ice, the Polarstern won’t be able to dodge storms. In case aircraft are needed to respond to medical or other emergencies, the crew will build an ice runway near the ship and tap aviation fuel supplies the mission will stash on Russian islands. To guard against polar bears, the expedition will rely on constantly scanning thermal cameras, a tripwire, and a patrol armed with rifles.

The hardest challenges for researchers aboard the crowded ship, however, may be psychological. It will be “a pretty demanding, high-stress environment,” says Gradinger, whose team of eight biologists has “an exceptionally dense program” of sampling to execute. MOSAiC scientists expect that Polarstern’s sauna, swimming pool, and two bars will provide crucial camaraderie. (In contrast to many polar vessels, alcohol is allowed on the ship.)

 https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/08/arctic-researchers-will-lock-ship-ice-year-study-changing-polar-region