Notes from on top of the world: A team of UNH researchers leads an expedition to map the Arctic Ocean seafloor aboard the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy.
A team of researchers from the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center (CCOM/JHC), a partnership between UNH and NOAA, is mapping the Arctic Ocean seafloor aboard the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy. The primary goal of the cruise is to collect data that will help the U.S. define the limits of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the coastline. Along the way, the researchers – led by CCOM founding director Larry Mayer and JHC co-director Andy Armstrong – are gaining new insights into the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean, of which just 10 percent is mapped.
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Armstrong has been blogging about the team’s progress and life at sea. So far during the five-week cruise, the researchers have encountered bad weather, shrinking ice, interesting seafloor features and, from a comfortable distance, a polar bear. Read Armstrong’s notes from the top of the world.
Originally published by:
UNH Today
