First campaign in the Arctic for the research vessel Laura Bassi
The icebreaker Laura Bassi begins its first scientific expedition to the Arctic today, to carry out three research projects proposed by researchers from the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics - OGS and the National Research Council - CNR, funded by the Arctic Research Programme of the Ministry of University and Research - MUR and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation - MAECI. The expedition, to last 40 days, will begin and end in Bergen (Norway) with a quick stopover for crew changes in Longyearbyen (Svalbard Islands, Norway). The ship will also carry out other operations to install and maintain oceanographic instrumentation in Svalbard waters. About 40 researchers from OGS and CNR will be involved.
The icebreaker, owned by OGS and operating at the service of the entire Italian scientific community, left Bergen today and will first follow a route taking it close to Greenland, and from there it will continue on to Svalbard and beyond to the Barents Sea. At the end of August, the ship will call at Longyearbyen and then continue with a second research phase in the Barents Sea, all the while remaining beyond the Arctic Circle.
Geophysics and oceanography are at the core of the activities of the three major projects of the mission, coordinated respectively by Renata Lucchi of OGS, Maurizio Azzaro of CNR-ISP and Laura Ghigliotti of CNR-IAS, funded by the PRA (Arctic Research Programme) on the basis of the evaluation of an international committee of experts. The aim is to investigate both the changes taking place in the region caused by climate change and the role of anthropogenic impact on global processes, and the evolution of the Arctic marine environment in the recent history of the Earth. The focus of the CASSANDRA project is on collecting seawater samples at different depths and analysing their physical, chemical and biochemical properties across the oceanic threshold between the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. The response of biological fish communities to climate change is the focus of the CHANGE project, which will take place along the coast of north-east Greenland at the mouth of the Fram Strait. Finally, the IRYDIA project will investigate the response of past oceans to natural climate change caused by alternating glacial and interglacial epochs. All projects will be carried out in close collaboration with international research groups. ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) will provide support for the management of the ICT and navigation infrastructure and has undertaken the installation of an automatic weather station.
A number of activities will also be carried out involving the maintenance of deep-sea observatories off Svalbard (an activity cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions), located in the south-eastern part of the Fram Strait, where the exchange of Atlantic and Arctic oceanic water masses has been the subject of study by the international scientific community for many decades. These data, which OGS and CNR have been collecting continuously since 2014, represent a unique opportunity to contribute to understanding the consequences induced by progressive global warming.
A final activity will also see collaboration with two Indian institutes, the National Institute of Ocean Technology - NIOT and the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research - NCPOR, for the recovery of instrumentation in Ny Alesund Fjord, Kongsfjorden (Norway).