5 Aug 2014, Matthew Shupe [73N, 169E] We are passing through a region where the ice is very dirty, sometimes with actual dirt, and sometimes with biology. I don’t know the details for sure, but I think a lot of the ice in this region has previously been shore fast ice, meaning that it was… Read More
5 Aug 2014, Matt Shupe [73N, 168E]. The sea ice has been very active in this area of the East Siberian Sea. You can tell by all of the pressure ridges around, some protruding many meters above the surface. These ridges occur when large ice floes run into each other, causing little mountain ranges of… Read More
29 July 2014, by Matthew Shupe [76N, 147E]: It really is a mystery, this plume that emanates from Bennett Island in satellite images (you can read about it on Wikipedia). Some have hypothesized that wind riding up over the rather abrupt island causes clouds to form. Others think there is local geothermal activity. Some onboard… Read More
29 July 2014, by Matt Shupe [76N, 147E]: By far the most populous wildlife has been birds. They accompany us through all conditions, often riding the winds that flow up over the ship (A colleague, Ian, actually had these winds modelled so that we can understand their impacts on our measurements). We have observed what… Read More
28 July 2014, by Paul Johnston [76.61 N, 147 E]: We are currently within sight of Bennett Island. This is the first land we have seen since leaving Norway on 5 July. Bennett is a piece of volcanic rock (about 60 sq. miles) with an ice cap on top. In the photo, if you look… Read More
27 July 2014, by Matt Shupe [78N, 138E]: I played in the mud today. Well, I guess the more technical term for it is core slicing. At many stations along our course the “multi-core” is sent down to the sea bed, sinking in and extracting short sediment samples in 3” diameter tubes. Once on… Read More
26 July 2014, by Matt Shupe [78N, 137E]: Most measurements made on this voyage are from below, either sampling water or sea-floor sediment. Each primary sampling mode has a team of people working shifts since we can arrive at a station (predefined sampling points) at any hour of the day. Don’t forget, it is… Read More
25 July 2014, by Matt Shupe [79N, 136E]: In a previous posting I talked a bit about the exercise out here. There is a core group of us that are fairly dedicated to routine appearances in the gym. Sometime early in the cruise a form was put on the gym door for logging kilometers on… Read More
23 July 2014, by Matt Shupe [76N, 131E]: I’ve been onboard Oden a few times before: Six weeks in late summer 2008 on an expedition from Svalbard out towards the North Pole and back; two months ago in port in Helsingborg, Sweden; and now here for this expedition. There are a couple distinctive features about… Read More
22 July 2014, by Matt Shupe [76N, 128E]: We are operating a collection of NOAA instruments on Oden during ACSE / SWERUS. So perhaps a few words about what these are and why they are here. Cloud Radar: My personal favorite, this system transmits microwave pulses that reflect off of cloud particles in the atmosphere. … Read More
