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Tim

U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior

Press Release

For release: September 2, 2008

Contact:
Michael Gauldin, 703-648-4054, mgauldin@...
Jonathan Childs, 650-329-5195, jchilds@...
Jessica Robertson, 703-648-6624, jrobertson@...

Unexplored Arctic Region to be Mapped

Reporters: You will have access to a journal, photographs and video during
and after this expedition. Information is available at
http://www.usgs.gov/journals/arctic/.

A scientific expedition this fall will map the unexplored Arctic seafloor
where the U.S. and Canada may have sovereign rights over natural resources
such as oil and gas and control over activities such as mining.

Both countries will use the resulting data to establish the outer limits of
the continental shelf, according to the criteria set out in the Convention
on the Law of the Sea. The extended continental shelf, the seafloor and
subsoil beyond 200 nautical miles from shore that meet those criteria, is
an area of great scientific interest and potential economic development.

The expedition will be collaboratively undertaken by the U.S. and Canada
using two ships. The U.S. Geological Survey will lead data collection from
September 6 to October 1 on the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy to map the
Arctic seafloor. The Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada
will follow Healy on the Canadian Coast Guard ship Louis S. St. Laurent (
Louis) and study the geology of the sub-seafloor.

"The two-ship experiment allows both the U.S. and Canada to collect and
share complementary data in areas where data acquisition is costly,
logistically difficult, and sometimes dangerous," said USGS scientist
Deborah Hutchinson, who will sail aboard Louis. "Both countries benefit
through sharing of resources and data as well as increasing likelihood of
success by utilizing two ice-breaker ships in these remote areas of the
Arctic Ocean."

"Healy will utilize an echo sounder, which emits sounds signals in the
water, to map the seafloor. This will be done using a multibeam bathymetry
system," said USGS scientist Jonathan Childs, chief scientist on Healy
during the September cruise. "Unlike conventional echo sounders, which
measure the water depth at a point directly beneath the ship, the multibeam
system collects a 'swath' of depth information about 3 km wide along the
ship's path, creating a three-dimensional view of the seafloor."

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration funded U.S.
participation in this mission and collaborated with the University of New
Hampshire to collect bathymetric data in the Arctic Ocean on Healy from
August 14 to September 5.

Research is coordinated by the Extended Continental Shelf Task Force, a
government-wide group headed by the U.S. Department of State. Participants
in this Task Force include the USGS, NOAA, U.S. Coast Guard, National
Science Foundation, Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Navy, Department of Energy,
Environmental Protection Agency, Executive Office of the President,
Minerals Management Service, and the Arctic Research Commission.

For more information about the Convention on the Law of the Sea, visit
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/index.htm.

USGS provides science for a changing world. For more information, visit
www.usgs.gov.

Subscribe to USGS News Releases via our electronic mailing list at
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/list_server.aspor or our RSS feed at
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