Wednesday 3 September 2008

At 1005, we are at 85o 59.62N 06o 59.11E. We spent most of yesterday sailing east and some sailing south. The ice is thicker and all leads are frozen over. Many now have "gardens of frost flowers" now, which Paty really wanted to sample prior to departure; unfortunately, they were not within sampling reach at the lead. Frost flowers are crystalline structures that appear on the surface of newly formed sea ice once it achieves a certain thickness and a certain cold temperature. Oden is advancing at speeds that range from -0.1 knots (moving backwards to break ice) to 8 knots, with an average of approx. 4 knots, except when it does not move. How does icebreaker Oden loosen itself from the grip of the ice? Very briefly, the ship has several large tanks on either side of the ship, filled with several hundreds of liters of water which it can move from port to starboard (left to right) and back very quickly, thus creating just enough space to then move forwards or backwards. It also has a 3rd tank in a different location for the same purpose. In addition, it has 2 side thrusters (engines that provide lateral motion) as well as a water system under the bow that lubricates the sea ice in front of it, so Oden can slide over it and crush it with its weight and forward motion. Indeed, for the past 2 years, Oden has been contracted by the US National Science Foundation to open the channel to McMurdo, in Antarctica, at the end of the austral winter, something that the Oden officers and crew are quite proud of. Thus, a month after returning to Sweden from this Arctic Ocean expedition, Oden will sail south to Punta Arenas, Chile and then on to the Antarctic shelf.
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