Opportunities and priorities in Arctic geoscience: Committee on Arctic Solid-Earth Geosciences, Polar Research Board, Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources, National Research Council

There is broad agreement in the scientific community that the solid earth beneath the Arctic Ocean basin contains answers to major unsolved problems in the earth sciences and that many of these pertain to questions that are of global scientific significance or pressing societal concern. Recent political and technological developments, including the end of the Cold War and the prospective availability of nuclear submarines and powerful icebreakers for use as research platforms, appear to provide remedies for formidable obstacles of communication and access in harsh environmental conditions. This book recommends that the Arctic Ocean basin and its margins be the focus of a research program in three stages of study based on selected criteria: geologic framework and tectonic evolution, the sedimentary record and environmental history, and arctic geologic processes and environmental indicators. There is broad agreement in the scientific community that the floor of the Arctic Ocean Basin contains potential answers to major unsolved problems in the earth sciences and that many of them pertain to questions that are of global scientific significance or pressing societal concern. However, because of the perennial sea ice, harsh climate, high field costs, and the absence of research platforms suitable for many types of investigations, this region is also one of the most poorly known on earth. Recent political and technological developments, including the apparent end of the Cold War and the prospective availability of nuclear submarines and powerful icebreakers as arctic research platforms, appear to provide possible means to overcome these formidable obstacles and, therefore, have the potential to enable revolutionizing our knowledge of the solid earth beneath the Arctic Ocean Basin. Some of the details of the circum-arctic geology are becoming known from efforts by government agencies, academic institutions, and industry. Because of the prospective logistic opportunities, and because of the disparity in geologic understanding that exists between the Arctic Ocean Basin and the circum-arctic landmasses, the Committee on Arctic Solid-Earth Geosciences recommends that the Arctic Ocean Basin and its margins, instead of the circum-arctic landmasses, be the focus of the next major augmentation of solid-earth geoscience research in the Arctic