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Press Release


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Hannover, July 22, 2010

BGR Arctic expedition on the “Polarstern”: What were the consequences of the separation of Greenland from Canada during the Earth's geological history?

The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) is conducting a marine geoscientific expedition from 31 July to 10 October 2010 in the Arctic between Greenland and Canada with aid of the German research icebreaker “Polarstern”. The team of scientists which includes colleagues from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) in Bremerhaven, the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), the Environmental Research Centre Leipzig (UFZ), and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (FSU), has the northern part of Baffin Bay on focus. Multidisciplinary geoscientific investigations will be carried out by the scientists to clarify the structural geology and tectonic development of northern Baffin Bay and the adjacent continental margins.

“There are still many unanswered questions about the plate tectonic development of this region. We are still not sure about the precise sequence of events during the opening of the northern part of Baffin Bay and the North Atlantic, and the part Greenland played in this plate tectonic puzzle,” says Dr. Volkmar Damm, BGR expedition leader. Damm: “Understanding the geological processes involved in the separation of Greenland from North America will also give us a greater insight into the climatic and oceanographic changes which occurred as this marginal Arctic sea opened up. Extensive sedimentary basins always develop during the break up of continental plates. Knowing the volume and nature of the sediments deposited in these basins, and the type of underground structures, allows us to reconstruct the geological history and interpret the basin building processes and palaeoclimatic changes.”

The expedition conducted by BGR is the third part of this year’s Arctic research cruise “ARK XXV” on the “Polarstern”. The programme in the first two phases concentrated on oceanographic and marine biological research south of Spitzbergen. The BGR research cruise conducted in close co-operation with the AWI geophysicists started in Reykjavik and finishes ten weeks later in Bremerhaven. There are 41 scientists and technicians on board. A large range of geophysical techniques will be used to collect the necessary data. This includes seismic, magnetic and gravimetric surveys, as well as geological sampling of the seafloor. An aeromagnetic survey will be carried out from the ship using the two helicopters on board the ship.

“We hope that the data we collect on the research cruise will give us a much better understanding of the underground geology of this region. The new data will be particularly valuable because there are hardly any boreholes in the marginal Arctic seas, and the nearest research borehole drilled as part of the International Deep Drilling Programme is 500 kilometres to the south,” says BGR geophysicist Damm.

The work involved in the 25th Arctic Expedition of the “Polarstern” forms part of the BGR’s long term basic geological research programme in previously poorly investigated regions, as well as part of its tasks in polar and marine research. BGR has already carried out research in the adjacent areas to the north and south of the present research area back in 2001 and 2008 with the same partners as this season’s expedition.

This marine area was first investigated scientifically more than 100 years ago by the Norwegian polar explorer Otto Sverdrup on his famous research ship “Fram”. Sverdrup’s research cruise began in 1898 and lasted four years because the “Fram” was trapped in the ice for three winters. Sverdrup’s original intention was to discover a connection between Baffin Bay and the Arctic Ocean. Although he failed to achieve his ambition, the Norwegian was the first to map the whole coast of north Canada, discovering a series of islands in the Canadian Arctic in the process.

More information:
http://www.bgr.bund.de/EN/Themen/MeerPolar/Polarforschung/polarforschung__node__en.html


Photos:
http://www.bgr.bund.de/EN/Gemeinsames/Oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/Pressemitteilungen/BGR/bgr-100722-bilder_en.html


Contact:
Dr. Volkmar Damm, Tel.: 0511 643 3226, E-Mail: volkmar.damm@bgr.de


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Press spokesman: Andreas Beuge, Tel.: 0511 643 2679, mobil: 0170 8569662
E-mail: info@bgr.de Internet: http://www.geozentrum-hannover.de
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