Text and photos: Eva Therese Jenssen

The semester-long Arctic Marine Geology (AG-211) course concluded with a four day cruise along the west coast of Spitsbergen in early May.

On the agenda were seismic measurements, core sampling and lab reports.

The main aim was to teach students how marine geological datas are collected. Several CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) measurements were made, among other places in Kongsfjorden, to find the melt water channels of the Kongsvegen glacier.

Acoustic measurements of the ocean floor were conducted with seismic and multi beam echo sounder.

Linda Sklett Larsen (left) and Stephan Vogel are very satisfied with the marine geology cruise.

Finding the clues of the past
– The students learned how to investigate sediments from the ocean floor and how to analyze the depositional environments in order to infer paleoclimatic conditions, i.e. the climate history of Svalbard, said course leader Matthias Forwick.

During the four days, the students participated in several gravity core samplings, and one box core and one piston core sampling.

- I learnt a lot; to combine various data and get results that you can correlate, and to use some of the equipment. Before I came here, I didn’t know that some of the equipment even existed, said Stephan Vogel (23) from Mainz in Germany.

– There is a great difference between things you are taught in lectures and the impressions you get on the ship, he said. Lisa Sklett Larsen (24) from Inndyr, Norway, agrees.

- It was exciting to see how the core samples were taken and learn how all the equipment on the ship actually worked, she said.

Students get instructions on how piston core samples are conducted, on the deck of "Jan Mayen".

The present is the key to the past, and the past is the key to the future
- The sediments on land are exposed to erosion from wind and precipitation, whereas sediments on the ocean floor can be far better preserved. Undisturbed sediments on the ocean floor can give valuable information about the past climate, said Forwick.

- Climate models developed for predicting the future can be tested against past climate data to see if the climate models work, he said, stressing that finding a link between land and ocean data is important to get the whole climate history on Svalbard.