Studies of sea-ice conditions north of Greenland: results from a pilot GRASP initiative on the extension of territorial limits into the Arctic Ocean

Abstract

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 icebreaker 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 geophysical surveys and the release and compilation of formerly classified oceanographic, hydrographic and climate-related data. Analyses of data from the submarine cruises have indicated a thinning of the polar seaice cover (Rothrock et al. 1999).