1994 Arctic Ocean Section
-- Historic Firsts --
First U.S. and Canadian surface ships to reach the North Pole
First surface ship crossing of the Arctic Ocean via the North Pole
First circumnavigation of North America and Greenland by surface ships
Northernmost rendezvous of three surface ships from the largest Arctic nations--Russia,
the U.S. and Canada--at 8941′N, 01124′E on August 23, 1994
-- Significant Scientific Findings --
Uncharted seamount discovered near 8550′N, 16600′E
Atlantic layer of the Arctic Ocean found to be 0.51C warmer than prior to 1993
Large eddy of cold fresh shelf water found centered at 1000 m on the periphery of the
Makarov Basin
Sediment observed on the ice from the Chukchi Sea to the North Pole
Biological productivity estimated to be ten times greater than previous estimates
Active microbial community found, indicating that bacteria and protists are significant con-
sumers of plant production
Mesozooplankton biomass found to increase with latitude
Benthic macrofauna found to be abundant, with populations higher in the Amerasia Basin
than in the Eurasian Basin
Furthest north polar bear on record captured and tagged (8415′N)
Demonstrated the presence of polar bears and ringed seals across the Arctic Basin
Sources of ice-rafted detritus in seafloor cores traced, suggesting that oceanice circulation
in the western Canada Basin was toward Fram Strait during glacial intervals, contrary to the
present Beaufort Gyre
Cloud optical properties linked to marine biogenic sulfur emissions
Near-surface fresh water found to be derived from river runoff except in the Nansen Basin
where it comes from melting ice
Arctic Ocean determined to be a source to the atmosphere and Atlantic Ocean of some
organic contaminants, rather than a sink
Predominant sources of radionuclide contaminants in the ocean found to be from atmo-
spheric weapons testing and European reprocessing plants
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