9 August, 2001

Ice Breaker Healy Steams to Arctic to Study Crust Formation

TEA Michele Adams is aboard!

August 9, 2001

NSF PR 01-66

Media Contact:

Peter West

(703) 292-8070/ pwest@nsf.gov

ON FIRST SCIENCE CRUISE ICEBREAKER HEALY STEAMS

TO ARCTIC TO STUDY CRUST FORMATION

Researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) are sailing on the maiden scientific voyage of the U.S. Coast

Guard's newest icebreaker to study one of the world's slowest growing oceanic ridges, with an eye to understanding how the

Earth's crust forms.

The USCGC Healy, which is outfitted as a scientific research vessel, will carry out the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge Expedition

(AMORE) from late July until early October. The Healy will sail with the German research vessel Polarstern to sample and study

the Gakkel Ridge, a little-known geologic feature in the Arctic Ocean.

The Gakkel Ridge occupies a unique and important place

within the global system of ocean ridges for several reasons. It is the deepest and slowest spreading ridge. It also is the only

spot on the globe from which the polar mantle, under the ocean,

can be sampled directly.

Healy will use dredges to bring up rock samples from the ridge. To date only two small samples have ever been recovered

from the 5000-meter (3.1- mile) deep ridge.

"We will recover volcanic rocks that we will analyze chemically to learn more about mid-oceanic ridges in general, including how the planet's oceanic crust is created by seafloor spreading," said principal investigator Peter J. Michael,

professor of geosciences at the University of Tulsa.

Along the mid-ocean ridge, volcanic material is added to crustal plates that move away from each other. The Gakkel Ridge

is special because its seafloor-spreading rate is about one centimeter (.39 inches) per year -- the slowest on earth --

compared to other ridges that spread at up to 18 centimeters (7 inches) annually. Slow-spreading ocean ridges are a global

rarity and their mechanics are not well understood.

Forming the northern end of the Atlantic Ocean ridge system, the Gakkel is one of the least-studied mid-ocean ridges. Data collected by AMORE is expected to provide a basic understanding

of the makeup of Arctic Ocean crust and its influence on Arctic Ocean chemistry.

The vessels will make the 800-mile voyage from Norway to the edge of the ice cap in three days, traveling at approximately 12

knots (13.8 mph). Once in the ice, the vessels expect to average

3 knots (3.45 mph), depending on thickness of the ice that needs

to be broken. The combination of the Healy and Polarstern

working together will enhance safety in the ice and make for more efficient data gathering.

The permanent ice cover of the Arctic Ocean has previously hindered study of the Gakkel Ridge. AMORE used data collected

by SCICEX, a joint exercise of the U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Research and NSF in which submarines have mapped large areas of

the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, to develop its sampling program, according to AMORE researcher Henry Dick of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

"Scientists previously thought there was little volcanic activity along the Gakkel Ridge, but information from a 1999

submarine cruise indicates there may be an isolated, very large megavolcano at the eastern end of the ridge filling up the

crack," he said.

AMORE also will host Michele Adams, a 7th grade science teacher at Musselman Middle School in West Virginia. Adams is a parcticipant in NSF's Teachers Experiencing the Arctic and

Antarctic Program (TEA).

Other U.S. institutions involved in AMORE include the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University and Oregon State University. German institutions include Alfred Wegener Institute

in Bremerhaven, Max-Planck Institute in Mainz and the University

of Bremen.

-NSF-

Editors: For information on available b-roll, call Dena Headlee, 703-292-8070/dheadlee@nsf.gov

To read more about NSF's support of scientific logistics in the Polar Regions, see http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/media/01/fslogistics.htm

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute will post bulletins from

the Healy at sea at http://www.arcticvolcanoes.com

To follow teacher Michele Adams' experiences, see ../tea_adamsfrontpage.html

For more information about the Healy, see http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/Healy/

For more information about SCICEX, see http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/SCICEX/

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