The expedition Arctic Ocean 2025, report 3: Summer Arctic, stubborn cyclone and sediment cores
A little over a week has passed since the Research school on icebreaker Oden passed the North Pole and we are now relatively far south but on the other side of the pole which has some weird consequences. While the sun doesn't set, it does vary over the day. Since we are still on UTC time (sometimes called Greenwich Mean Time) this means that where we are now, the sun is the lowest in the middle of our day and vice versa.
Although the sun is up all day in central Arctic summer it is rare to see it. But when it happens it is beautiful. Photo: Michael Tjernström.
PhD student Letizia Roscelli is working in Oden's main foredeck lab with one of the sediment cores that was retrieved from the ocean floor during night between last Friday and Saturday. Photo: Michael Tjernström.
This last week we have mostly been assisting the Canadian icebreaker Luis S. St. Laurent with breaking ice. When they use their seismological equipment they need relatively ice free conditions and Oden has been breaking a way through the ice. But we have also used our helicopter to fly out students on the ice to take samples and do measurements, as well as stopped for a few sediment cores from the sea floor.
The sun or even blue skies are rarely seen in the summer Arctic but it does happen and then the scenery is beautiful! However, over the last several days we have been under the influence of a stubborn cyclone over the Beaufort Sea that has been sending us snow falls and insisting on keeping the wind up, making weather balloon launches a bit of an adventure.
PhD student Luise Schulte struggles while launching a radio sounding balloon from Oden's helideck during a storm, released every 6 hours regardless of weather. Photo: MIchael Tjernström.
The icebreaker Oden has set sail and is heading for the Arctic to map the seabed. On board are 18 PhD students from various countries attending a research school where practical work is combined with lectures. Follow their journey in our blog, with weekly reports by Michael Tjernström, professor emeritus of meteorology at Stockholm University with extensive experience of Arctic expeditions, and responsible for the research school.
