RV Jan Mayen 3/2000 Cruise

*SCORESBY (Scientific Consideration of the Odden RESponse to a Benign Year) links the cruise to the life and work of William Scoresby Jr, (1782-1857), whaling captain and pioneer Arctic Scientist, who was the first to study these waters and their ice cover.

This cruise received funding from Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom. The UK support formed part of the NERC ARCICE programme. It followed the ARCICE 1999 summer cruise on the RRS James Clark Ross, which established the summer hydrography of the region.

The cruise objective was to match the winter hydrogaphy to the distribution and physical properties of the pancake icefield which normally occupies the region influenced by the Jan Mayen Current. The development of the icefield contributes a salt flux to the surface water which helps to determine the extent and depth of winter convection.

CTD Station Positions

Satellite Information

Main Aims:

1. Determination of the winter 2000 hydrography of the central Greenland Sea gyre region, including the location and depth of convective events and the structure of the Jan Mayen Current, especially where it emerges from the East Greenland Current.
2. Determination of the distribution and role of sea ice in winter processes in the region.
3. Investigation of the winter distribution and life cycle of phytoplankton in the region.

Phase 1:

Transect at 75N: A transect across the centre of the gyre at 75N from 4E to 10W, with CTD profiling and water sampling to determine hydrographic structure, plankton concentrations and occurance of convection.

Phase 2:

Ice edge physics: Ice-ocean physics programme along the East Greenland ice edge from 75N to 71N, to compare hydrographic structure to the position of the ice edge, nature of the ice cover and presence and extent of young ice growth within the East Greenland ice regime. This involved sampling of the pancake and frazil ice to determine salinity and ice crystal fabric; ice coring of thicker floes; wave measurements inside ice; underwater video and transmissometer measurements below frazil and pancake ice to determine thickness of the young ice layer; and hand-held CTD casts in the upper 50m of water to search for local convection associated with ice formation. The work was guided by SSM/I, Radarsat, ERS-2 SAR, AVHRR and QuickScat satellite imagery of the ice edge received on board using the Iridium system. CTD profiling and water sampling was also carried out during this phase.

Phase 3:

CTD sections in the Jan Mayen Current: CTD profiling and water sampling within the zone normally occupied by the outflow of the Jan Mayen Current from the East Greenland Current, and by the Jan Mayen Current to the S and SE of the gyre centre.

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