US Coast Guard joins in Arctic oil rush

US scientists will map part of the seafloor as nations vie for the region's oil and minerals.

from the August 20, 2007 edition

Page 2 of 2

Page 1 | 2

Countries trying to lock up large portions of the Arctic seafloor are not aiming to build something next week or next year, the official adds. Instead, they argue that "this is part of our patrimony that we want to stake out to make sure we have control over it in the future," the official says.

Technologically, that future is likely to hold new approaches to deep-sea drilling that enables energy companies to work in such a hostile environment. And it implies an environment that is expected to grow somewhat less hostile with time. For instance, Aug. 17, researchers reported the extent of Arctic Ocean sea ice this summer is at its lowest point since satellites started to keep track of it in the 1970s – with another month remaining in the melt season. If current melt rates continue, summer sea ice could vanish by 2030, instead of by the mid to late part of the century. Scientists say they trace the reduction to global warming and some level of natural variation.

This is the context under which geophysicists have entered the fray. Under the treaty, countries have a small menu of benchmarks they can choose from to make a bid for extending their jurisdictions beyond 200 miles. They can use the foot of the slope leading from the top of the continental shelf to the deep-seafloor. They can use an imaginary line along the slope at a depth of 8,250 feet. Or they can pick a spot where the depth of the muck on the deep-sea bottom is 1 percent of the distance between that point and the foot of the continental shelf. Countries can pick the approach that gives them the most leverage.

That's where the geophysicists enter the fray, using high-resolution sonar to map the shelf and nearby floor and other tools to gauge the depth of sea-bottom sediment.

And there are clear scientific gains to be made as well. On one cruise, for instance, the Healy uncovered a seamount (now the Healy Seamount) that no one had detected before – even though it vaulted from 4,000 feet deep to less than 900 feet below the surface. In other oceans, sea mounts are biologically rich and serve as feeding stations for migratory fish. Researchers wonder if the same holds true for seamounts in frigid Arctic waters.

In addition, Dr. Mayer says, cruise scientists hope to map a series of pockmarks on the ocean floor that suggest gas is slowly venting from the sediment there.

Previous cruises have uncovered unique marine organisms that use vented gas for food. Researchers also will be deploying buoys to track sea ice and record the underwater sound environment in the region.

1 | Page 2