1. The central Arctic Ocean and its environmental variability Jörn Thiede Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research Bremerhaven/ Germany Washington May 25, 2006 ARCUS-Meeting

2. Biostratigraphy Composite of Sites M2A and M4A - based on dinoflagellates - additional age constraints: Middle Eocene silicoflagellates, diatoms Early Eocene/Late Paleocene agglutinated foraminifers -calcareous microfossils and radiolarians are rare

3. Vidar Viking could keep its position for max. 9 days Oden Sovetskiy Soyuz Vidar Viking

4. Sea Ice Variability indications of strong thinning in central Arctic global trend not known  CryoSat Mission, Fall 200? (Rothrock et al.,1999) Submarine Data Electromagnetic Thickness Sensor

6. 2006: What we can do and what we cannot do Regular summer expeditions for all polar research disciplines Fullfill all logistic requirements (but at the expense of research time) Provide safety and experienced crews Bad season expeditions Deep-sea drilling Deployment of CALYPSO giant piston coring device Synoptic bipolar expeditions Deployments of ROV and AUV (or MUV) Winter navigation based on high-resolution remote sensing information Provide a novel and safe research platform to the new generation of polar researchers

8. Generate the most modern, innovative and powerful polar research ice-breaker, with an all-season and drilling capabilities Generate a multinational polar research platform, motivating new countries to invest into their Arctic research programs to meet new challenges Generate a „floating university“ to educate a new generation of polar researchers Generate a platform for public outreach and educationals activities Prepare the road for commercial enterprises in the Arctic Ocean; potential for rescue operations The AURORA BOREALIS Challenge IPY EPB/ECORD ICARP II

9. CryoSat: A Mission to Determine Fluctuations in the Mass of the Earth’s Land and Marine Ice Fields. Prof. Duncan J. Wingham, CryoSat Lead Investigator University College London

10. Requirements for External Resources Calibration & Validation Scientific Data Processing CryoSat Processor ~ 250 Gbit/day 10 Mbit Data Products

11. Monitoring systems for Arctic sea ice and icebergs

13. Our biggest problems (examples): -To Generate Novel Research Infrastructure -Convince International Partners to join and coordinate - Clean up the maize of Arctic science organisations -Ensure political stability to ensure access to all Arctic regions for all scientific partners To guarantee cutting egde science and safety of science operations in extreme environments