Professor to speak on Arctic Coring Expedition
Professor to speak on Arctic Coring Expedition
Submitted by Amy Hartley
Phone: 474-5823
10/11/05
The Geophysical Institute welcomes Kathryn Moran, a professor of ocean engineering
and oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, to discuss findings from the 2004
Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX) in a free public lecture on Oct. 13. Cores collected
from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program’s ACEX mission are surprising many who
believed the Arctic Ocean lacked sufficient remains to record evidence of ancient
climate. Now scientists are able to analyze Earth’s previous conditions through ribbons
of ocean floor sediment taken from depths as deep as 1,300-feet below the sea floor.
Some of the cores taken were as old as 80 million years and subsequent analysis has uncovered clues about the Arctic Ocean’s past. A particularly exciting find for the ACEX team was a hunk of sediment dated from 55 million years ago that contained animal and plant microfossils. These organisms are characteristic of subtropical waters, indicating the Arctic Ocean was once ice-free. In addition, other cores were chock-full of organic material that some believe may indicate the region holds significant oil and gas deposits.
Prior to the 2004 ACEX mission, the Arctic Ocean seafloor was never penetrated for scientific drilling. The ACEX team achieved a tremendous feat by withstanding thick moving sea ice on the ocean’s surface, while drilling in waters more than 4,000-feet deep. The ACEX cores were collected from Lomonosov Ridge, a major submarine ridge that spans 1,100 miles and ends shy of the North Pole.
"Beneath the Ice: Coring the Arctic Ocean for Clues on Ancient Climate" will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 13. The free lecture will be held in the Elvey Auditorium at the Geophysical Institute on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. Moran is the second Geophysical Institute Endowment Lecturer of 2005.
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PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
CONTACT:
Amy Hartley, Geophysical Institute Information Officer, (907) 474-5823 or via e-mail
at amy.hartley@gi.alaska.edu