UNH / NOAA Ocean Mapping Expedition Peers into Arctic Depths
12.02.2008 - Other
New Arctic sea floor data released today by the University of New Hampshire and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggests that the foot of the continental slope off Alaska extends more than 100 nautical miles further from the U.S. coast than what was previously assumed. Under the still to be approved Law of the Sea Convention, this information could support US claims to the natural resources that lay on the sea floor beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast.
The data obtained by using sophisticated echo sounders also gave scientists a much better view of the region's geological history. Mapping over 5,400 linear nautical miles, the research team also found scours on the Chukchi Cap some 1,300 feet below the surface and deep pockmarks (seabed depressions) of unknown origin at a depth of 1,600 feet. The scours are likely to have been caused by the scraping of an ice sheet on the sea floor.
Understanding the bathymetry and geological history of the Arctic is an important part in understanding global climate change. The Arctic controls the flow of deep ocean currents which distribute the Earth's heat and control the climate.
