see also: nabos.iarc.uaf.edu

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Today the cruise is finishing taking measurements in the Laptev Sea along the deep water slope (see map). They will now begin shallow water experiments across the Laptev Sea Shelf.

Thus far, two moorings have been recovered (M1 and M3) and five (M1, M3, M8, M9, and M10) have been deployed. Three cross-slope sections and one along-slope sections were made. The eastern (central East Siberian Sea) section showed that the 1°C warm anomaly that was traced in previous years near the Novosibirskiye Islands has continued to propagate eastwards. The upper ocean temperatures are still well above freezing (up to 2°C) and there is no trace of ice formation there.

All of the sediment traps are working well and they have been catching fish with every cast. Turbulence measurements show a calm Arctic Ocean.

see also: nabos.iarc.uaf.edu

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The cruise continues to progress smoothly. As of 20:00 UTC, the Viktor Buynitsky is at the M3 mooring site (location 79-56N, 142-22E) and it is almost finished being redeployed. Work is going fine although people are tired due to the constant rolling of the ship. We are informed that the ship has an interesting characteristic that it rolls during transits, but is unusually stable during stations.

Soon they will continue the along-slope section westward from M3 until they reach the M1 mooring line. From there they anticipate making the shallow transit starting the afternoon of Sept 28th, heading up onto the Laptev Sea Shelf.

They report that unusually warm SSTs are being seen on the shelf in the East Siberian Sea, reaching up to +2C. North of the Novosybirkiye Islands in the deep basin above the Lomonosov Ridge, temperatures are +2 to +3C. This is a very unusual situation, to say the least.

see also: nabos.iarc.uaf.edu

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All of the planned East Siberian Sea work, including two mooring deployments, has been completed and the ship is headed back toward the Laptev Sea where mooring M3 will be deployed. A shallow-water cross-section on the Laptev shelf will also be conducted.

see also: nabos.iarc.uaf.edu

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Over the weekend, the NABOS cruise worked in the central East Siberian Sea, deploying two planned moorings (M9 and M10) and are currently finishing the oceanographic and biochemistry stations. When this is completed, they will sail towards the final station for deployment, M3. This will conclude the eastern half of the cruise.

The convoy through Vilkitsky Strait is planned for October 2 with a tentative arrival date in Longearbyen, Svalbard on October 7 or 8. The second half of the cruise will take place over a ten day period in the Barents Sea. Plans for the second leg of the cruise include two mooring recoveries and five mooring deployments with CTD and turbulence casts.

see also: nabos.iarc.uaf.edu

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The cruise aboard the Viktor Buynitsky is going well with the deployment of the second and third moorings, M8 and M3, respectively. They are now continuing southward along the second cross-section North of the Novosibirskiye Islands taking CTD/turbulence measurements and biological samples. The ship’s equipment including the winches and A-frame installed for the cruise are all working well.

Normally, this is the time of year when the ocean starts freezing in this area of the Laptev Sea. Researchers have seen an unseasonably warm ocean this year however and have measured 3°C at the surface, 5 degrees above the freezing point. They are looking forward to seeing conditions first-hand in the East Siberian Sea, which they hope to reach by September 22.

see also: nabos.iarc.uaf.edu

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The NABOS cruise is on it’s 12th day. They are now working on the Novosibirskiye Island cross-section. They have deployed the M8 mooring at ~2000m and made the first CTD/turbulence station of this cross-section. The ship is moving towards M3 mooring and on the way, they will do 4 more CTD stations.

see also: nabos.iarc.uaf.edu

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The cruise is going well so far and everyone is pleased with the success with the recovery and redeployment of the first mooring, M1. This is the seventh year that the mooring has been redeployed.

They are finishing the cross-section in the central Laptev Sea and will continue by heading to the second cross-section located between the Laptev and East Siberian Seas soon. Eleven oceanographic stations with CTD and turbulence measurements were completed and they have been catching lots of fish while sampling for biodiversity and population numbers. They may have enough time to do work in the eastern-most planned part of the cruise since the last convoy through Vilkitsky Strait will be on October 5.

see also: nabos.iarc.uaf.edu

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The Viktor Buynitsky started her first cross-section across the middle part of the Laptev Sea slope. During the cross-section, they approached our first mooring (M1) and “talked” to the mooring by sending signals and getting a response back. This means that the mooring survived the year and has not been stolen by icebergs. Today they plan on retrieving and redeploying this mooring. They will then finish the cross-section and progress to the next mooring across the slope northward of the Novosibirskiye Islands.

During a cross-section, multi-disciplinary (turbulence, salinity, temperature, etc.) measurements are taken across a range of depths associated with the boundaries of an ocean ridge or basin.

see also: nabos.iarc.uaf.edu

The Viktor Buynitsky was escorted through a calm Vilkitsky Strait by the Icebreaker Taimir on Sunday due to sea ice conditions. They are now in the Laptev Sea where the waves and wind have picked up a bit.

Spirits were good onboard as they tested all the scientific equipment and found everything in working order except for the O₂ sensor. They plan to the first CTD/turbulence station tomorrow (10am Moscow time) and then progress northward toward the first mooring (M1) for recovery/deployment.

It is possible the last convoy back through Vilkitsky Strait will take place in early October, which will allow extra time for the cruise to finish work, including planned sites in the East Siberian Sea. After that the ship will sail towards Svalbard for the second part of the cruise.

Spirits are high and everyone is eager to start work. Tomorrow they anticipate reaching Vilkitsky Strait. Depending on ice conditions, they may have to wait for one day to be escorted by an icebreaker through the ice, which has disappeared almost everywhere in the area but there.