Towards the Svalbard archipelago and the Barents Sea

A new oceanographic expedition of the UB to the Arctic Circle studies submarine landslides and seafloor stability in the Barents Sea.
A new oceanographic expedition of the UB to the Arctic Circle studies submarine landslides and seafloor stability in the Barents Sea.
Research
(17/09/2015)

Polar waters in the western continental margin of the Svalbard Islands and the Barents Sea are the scene of an oceanographic expedition that takes place from 21 September to 4 October on board of the research vessel OGS Explora. The expedition is led by José Luis Casamor, professor in the Department of Stratigraphy, Paleontology and Marine Geoscience of the University of Barcelona (UB), and Andrea Caburlotto, professor in the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (Triestre, Italy).

 

A new oceanographic expedition of the UB to the Arctic Circle studies submarine landslides and seafloor stability in the Barents Sea.
A new oceanographic expedition of the UB to the Arctic Circle studies submarine landslides and seafloor stability in the Barents Sea.
Research
17/09/2015

Polar waters in the western continental margin of the Svalbard Islands and the Barents Sea are the scene of an oceanographic expedition that takes place from 21 September to 4 October on board of the research vessel OGS Explora. The expedition is led by José Luis Casamor, professor in the Department of Stratigraphy, Paleontology and Marine Geoscience of the University of Barcelona (UB), and Andrea Caburlotto, professor in the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (Triestre, Italy).

 

 

 

The oceanographic expedition is part of the scientific project DEGLABAR, led by José Luis Casamor. The main objective of the project is reconstruct the mechanisms of marine sediment transport and dispersal during the last deglaciation stage of the Svalbard/Barents Sea Ice Sheet and evaluate the effect of sediment laden melt-water plumes on ocean circulation, benthic habitats and sediment accumulation and distribution on polar continental margins.

 
A new oceanographic expedition on board of the research vessel OGS Explora
 
 

On board of the research vessel OGS Explora, which departs on 21 September from the Port of Longyearbyen (Svalbard Islands), the scientific team will study submarine topographical features and recent sediments by means of different technologies to obtain bathymetric and seismic data. According to Professor Casamor, member of the Consolidated Research Group on Marine Geosciences of the UB, “the project aims at studying the characteristics of two deposits located near the island of Spitsbergen and developed under the influence of an oceanic current that dominated the area in the Holocene”.

 
 

“Further to the south —adds Casamor—, in the continental margin of the Barents Sea, the project will analyse several submarine landslides produced due to margin destabilization. Moreover, we will try to characterize the Inbis Channel —little known so far— in order to know the role it plays in sediment transportation towards deeper parts of the margin”.

 
 

The project DEGLABAR continues research studies carried out previously in the area by members of the Consolidated Research Group on Marine Geosciences of the UB, headed by Professor Miquel Canals. It is important to remember that polar latitudes in the Fram Strait —where cold water from the Arctic Ocean meets warmer water from the Atlantic— were the scene of the scientific campaign SVAIS, led by the geologist Angelo Camerlenghi in 2007 within the International Polar Year (IPY). Its main goal was to study climate change and marine relief in this strategic marine area.