The Physical Oceanography of the Arctic Mediterranean Sea: Explorations, Observations, Interpretations

By Bert Rudels

The Physical Oceanography of the Arctic Mediterranean Sea describes the circulation and the processes in the Arctic Mediterranean, how our present knowledge has developed, and presents recent changes caused by a gradually warmer global climate.

The Arctic Mediterranean Sea has been intensively studied in recent years, especially during the fourth International Polar Year, 2007–09, and we have become increasingly aware of the changes presently taking place. This book collects and presents newly acquired knowledge and sets it in perspective to previous studies. Authored by a world-renowned leader in the field, this book explores the role of this small but important sea in the global oceanic circulation and climate—a must-read for researchers and students in the fields of oceanography and climate science.

• Relates observed features to active processes and provides sufficient background information to understand the theoretical explanations
• Presents the Arctic Mediterranean Sea in the context of global ocean circulation and climate
• Presents a modern, comprehensive, and coherent treatment of Arctic (and subarctic) physical oceanography

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: Sep 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9780128169315

Bert Rudels

Bert Rudels received his PhD in oceanography at Gothenburg University, Sweden, and has worked at the Norwegian Polar Institute in Oslo, Norway, and at the Oceanographic Institution at the University of Hamburg, Germany. He began working at the Finnish Marine Institute in Helsinki, Finland, in 1997, and in 2008 he became a professor of Geophysics at the University of Helsinki. He currently works at the Finnish Meteorological Institute. He received the Nansen Medal of the European Geophysical Union in 2011. Dr. Rudels is currently a research professor (Emeritus) at the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

Book preview

The Physical Oceanography of the Arctic Mediterranean Sea

Explorations, Observations, Interpretations

Bert Rudels

Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Copyright

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgment

Chapter 1. From Nifelheim to Fram

Abstract

1.1 In the Northern mist

1.2 The search for the Northeast and Northwest passages

1.3 A century of exploration

1.4 The circulation of the world ocean

1.5 The influence of warm ocean currents on the ice cover

1.6 The Fram expedition

References

Chapter 2. The Arctic environment

Abstract

2.1 The global radiation balance and the high latitude climate

2.2 The atmospheric meridional energy transport

2.3 High-latitude atmospheric circulation patterns

2.4 The energy balance of the polar cap

2.5 Extent and major regions of the Arctic Mediterranean Sea

2.6 The surface currents, inflows, and outflows

2.7 The meridional freshwater transports and the sea ice cover

References

Chapter 3. Observing the Arctic Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

3.1 In open water and at the ice edge (1900–40)

3.2 Onto the ice and into the interior Arctic Ocean (1930–80)

3.3 Water mass distributions and the first interpretations and syntheses of the circulation in the Arctic Mediterranean

3.4 The development in observation, navigation, and communication techniques

3.5 Through, beneath, and above the ice (1980–2020)

3.6 The Nordic Seas, the overflows, and the North Atlantic

3.7 Variability and change

3.8 The beginning of large international projects, culminating in the fourth Polar Year and beyond

References

Chapter 4. External forcing and local response

Abstract

4.1 Sea ice; reflector and insulator

4.2 Sea ice thermodynamics, freezing, and melting

4.3 Sea ice growth during winter

4.4 The mechanics and dynamics of sea ice

4.5 Leads and polynyas

4.6 Haline convection and water mass transformations

4.7 The spreading of brine-enriched water on shelves and down slopes

4.8 Sea ice melting from below, sensible heat polynyas

4.9 Open ocean deep convection

4.10 Ice formation and deep ocean convection, the Weddell Sea and the Greenland Sea

References

Chapter 5. The circulation and transformations of Atlantic water in the Arctic Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

5.1 The North Atlantic

5.2 Atlantic water in the Norwegian Sea and north of Svalbard

5.3 Atlantic water in the Barents Sea

5.4 The waters leaving the Barents Sea

5.5 Interactions in the Nansen Basin East of the St Anna Trough

5.6 The circulation and water masses in the Eurasian Basin

5.7 The Amerasian Basin and the interactions between Pacific and Atlantic waters

5.8 The variability and circulation of the Atlantic water

5.9 The deep and bottom waters

5.10 The outflow areas

5.11 East Greenland Current and the outflow through Fram Strait

5.12 The Greenland slope and the Greenland Sea

5.13 The Iceland Sea and the overflows

5.14 The Irminger Sea

5.15 The Labrador Sea

References

Chapter 6. The presence and importance of internal mixing processes in the Arctic Ocean

Abstract

6.1 Diffusive interfaces and staircases in the Arctic Ocean

6.2 Double-diffusive intrusions and interleaving

6.3 Connections between thermohaline intrusions, staircases, and eddies

6.4 The relation of thermohaline intrusions and staircases to other mixing processes

References

Chapter 7. Observed, computed, and deduced transports through the main gateways

Abstract

7.1 From early point measurements to coordinated monitoring

7.2 The northward flow across the Iceland–Scotland Ridge

7.3 The Barents Sea inflow

7.4 Fram Strait: inflow, recirculation, and outflow

7.5 The transports in the East Greenland Current

7.6 The inflow through Bering Strait

7.7 The outflows west of Greenland, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Baffin Bay

7.8 Other openings

7.9 The mass balance of the Arctic Mediterranean Sea

7.10 Volume, heat, and freshwater balances of the Arctic Ocean

7.11 Heat and freshwater transports into and out of the Arctic Ocean

7.12 Freshwater transports and storage in the Arctic Ocean

7.13 A double estuary

7.14 The circulation in temperature space, salinity space, and TS space

References

Chapter 8. Theoretical descriptions and modeling of the Arctic Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

8.1 Conceptual models of the circulation in marginal seas

8.2 Numerical modeling of the circulation in the Arctic Mediterranean Sea

References

Chapter 9. Variability and change

Abstract

9.1 The Arctic Ocean sea ice cover

9.2 Ocean advection and sea ice–ocean interaction

9.3 Changes in freshwater storage

9.4 The Nordic Seas, the overflows, and the subpolar gyre

9.5 The circulation in the Arctic Mediterranean during the ice ages

References

Chapter 10. The meridional overturning circulation and the impact of the Arctic Mediterranean on the world ocean

Abstract

10.1 The thermodynamics of the overturning circulation

10.2 The global deep circulation

10.3 The mixing and upwelling of the deep and abyssal waters

10.4 The upper layer return flow to the North Atlantic

10.5 The North Atlantic subtropical gyre and the Northeastern North Atlantic

10.6 The combined effects of cooling and freshening: insights from box models

10.7 Extensions of conceptual and box models

10.8 The stability of the overturning circulation

10.9 Forcing exchanges between the ocean and semienclosed seas by density differences or by wind?

10.10 General principles and geographical details

References

Index

Copyright

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Dedication

To Tita, Erik, and Freja.

Preface

This is a presentation of the physical oceanography and the circulation in the Arctic Mediterranean, the part of the North Atlantic Ocean located north of the Greenland–Scotland Ridge, comprising the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas. It gives an observational oceanographer’s view of what is essential to know to understand the processes and the water movements in the Arctic Mediterranean. It is not a treatise and contains little original work. It also lacks the pedagogical approach required of a text book. This book is aimed at physical oceanographers, but it is written, hopefully, in a way that makes it accessible and of interest also to readers of neighboring disciplines, even if occasional details require familiarity with and knowledge of some basic physical oceanography.

The first three chapters provide the background. Chapter 1, From Nifelheim to Fram, is historical and describes how the awareness and the understanding of the high latitude ocean grew and deepened from the first recorded voyage by Pytheas 325 BCE through subsequent, often fated, explorations at high northern latitudes up to Nansen’s drift with Fram 1893–96. The drift of Fram finally dispelled the idea, or illusion, of an ice-free Arctic Ocean. Chapter 2, The Arctic Environment, outlines the geographical setting. It discusses the radiation balance, the atmospheric circulation, and the climate at high, mainly northern, latitudes. It also defines the extent of the Arctic Mediterranean and its main geographical and bathymetric features, as well as the presence and extent of the ice cover and the major ocean currents. Chapter 3, Observing the Arctic Mediterranean Sea, is again historical and reviews the field activities and the studies conducted in the Arctic Mediterranean from the drift of Fram to the fourth Polar Year, 2007–09. It brings forward the gradual increase in number and coverage of the observations, reaching from the boundaries into the ice covered interior. It also describes the development of new techniques and the deepened understanding of the active processes.

Chapter 4, External Forcing and Local Response, discusses the local response of the Arctic Mediterranean to the two major external forcings—heat loss to space and atmospheric freshwater input—acting on the Arctic Mediterranean. The cooling creates dense water that sinks and ventilates the deeper layers, while the freshwater input decreases the upper layer density and prevents deep convection. Instead, the low-salinity upper layer is cooled to freezing temperature and sea ice is formed, which in the central Arctic Ocean remains throughout the year. Sea ice formation also releases saline brine that accumulates on the shallow Arctic Ocean shelves through the winter to eventually sink down the continental slopes, contributing to the ventilation of the deep water.

Chapter 5, The Circulation and Transformations of Atlantic Water in the Arctic Mediterranean Sea, is observational. It follows the circulation and transformations of the Atlantic water in the Arctic Mediterranean from its entrance between Iceland and Scotland to its return to the North Atlantic, either as less dense surface water or as dense overflow water, and examines the evolution of the temperature and salinity along its different circulation pathways. Chapter 5, The Circulation and Transformations of Atlantic Water in the Arctic Mediterranean Sea, essentially tells the same story as Chapter 3, Observing the Arctic Mediterranean Sea, but the different features and transformations are identified directly from the presented observations.

The strong stability in the Arctic Ocean isolates the deep interior from the surface forcing and Chapter 6, The Presence and Importance of Internal Mixing Processes in the Arctic Ocean, focuses on internal mixing processes, especially those caused by double-diffusive convection. The more rapid molecular diffusion of heat compared to salt can induce instabilities and convection in the water column even when the overall stratification is stable, if either heat or salt is unstably stratified; cold water above warm, saline water above fresh. These processes may be important in transforming the waters in the deep interior of the basins.

The circulation in the Arctic Mediterranean is largely dominated by the exchanges with the world ocean, and Chapter 7, Observed, Computed, and Deduced Transports Through the Main Gateways, reviews the transports of mass (volume), heat, and salt (freshwater) through the different openings to the Arctic Mediterranean. It explores the passage to the North Pacific through Bering Strait, and the connections to the North Atlantic across the Greenland–Scotland Ridge and through Davis Strait between Greenland and Baffin Island. It also examines the transports between different parts of the Arctic Mediterranean: between the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas, and through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago to Baffin Bay. Transports obtained from direct current measurements in the different passages as well as theoretically obtained estimates are presented, and volume, heat, and salt budgets formulated for the entire Arctic Mediterranean are discussed.

Chapter 8, Theoretical Descriptions and Modeling of the Arctic Mediterranean Sea, describes the efforts to theoretically understand and model the circulation in the Arctic Mediterranean. The focus is on conceptual understanding, but the results of purely numerical models are also presented. Some models are examined in detail, and the mathematical derivations follow here, as elsewhere in the book, the original studies closely, using the same notation. The models address different forcing—wind, heating, and cooling—as well as the importance of bathymetry and sills for the circulation in mediterranean seas.

Chapter 9, Variability and Change, examines changes that have taken place in the Arctic Mediterranean during the last 30 years. The most obvious being the higher air temperatures and the reduction in sea ice cover. The mean temperature of the Earth has increased, and the increase is most pronounced at high latitudes. What are the major factors behind these changes? The positive albedo feedback of a reduced ice cover? An increased atmospheric transport of heat and water vapor, changing the radiation balance? Increased temperature and volume of the Atlantic water entering from the south? These and other possibilities are discussed at some length. The final section deals with the ice ages. It presents shortly current ideas of why they occur and describes possible oceanographic conditions during the last ice age.

The final chapter (see Chapter 10: The Meridional Overturning Circulation and the Impact of the Arctic Mediterranean on the World Ocean) examines the renewal of deep waters in the world ocean and the Meridional Overturning Circulation. Is it a heat engine forced by cooling at high latitudes and heating at lower latitudes, as was suggested in the 19th century (see Chapter 1, From Nifelheim to Fram), or is it mechanically driven by tides and winds that bring the deep water back to the surface? These different views are presented, and the possibilities to disturb the overturning circulation, primarily the effects caused by a weakening of the dense water production at high latitudes, are discussed. A reduction is not unexpected if the temperature increases and the cooling is reduced, but also a stronger freshwater input might, by increasing the stability of the water column, reduce the deep convection and the deep water formation. Observations in the North Atlantic indicate that a weakening of the overturning circulation takes place, but there are several sources of dense water in the North Atlantic and in the Arctic Mediterranean, and it is still not clear which of these sources experience(s) reduction.

This study is solidly anchored in the present and in the past, and little is said about the future. Doing this requires other tools than observations and interpretation of observations that have been applied here, but, above all, it demands a different author.

Acknowledgment

This book is the result of two events. The possibility of eventually writing such a book began in 1980, when I was fortunate to participate in the Swedish icebreaker expedition Ymer-80, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of Vega’s return after navigating the Northeast passage. The second event occurred in 1989, when Detlef Quadfasel arranged for me to work at the Institut für Meereskunde in Hamburg. This period became fundamental for my understanding of oceanography and of science. The book is also an extraction of my experience of being at sea. The time on different vessels, the CTD watches, the water sampling, and the mooring deployments, where the work with the captains and crews, and the cooperation and discussions with colleagues, students, and technicians gradually allowed an understanding of the ocean to evolve. My participation in the ICES Working Group on Ocean Hydrography, in the ASOF (Arctic-Subarctic Ocean Fluxes) community, and in the AOSB (Arctic Ocean Sciences Board), later the IASC’s (International Arctic Science Committee) marine working group, greatly broadened my views of the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic. The support of the heads and colleagues at all my different home institutions and their trust in what I was doing have been present at all times and have always been crucial.

Chapter 1

From Nifelheim to Fram

Abstract

To the north, beyond the known world, was water, a part of the ocean surrounding the world. The first dedicated exploration of the high north was made by ship. In 325 BCE (before the common era), the Greek geographer Pytheas left Massilia (Marseille) and sailed through the Pillars of Hercules and turned north into the North Atlantic. He circumnavigated the British Isles and reached the Shetland Islands and, perhaps, the Faroe Islands. The identity of his Ultima Thule is still unknown and open to debate. Was it Iceland? Was it Norway? Or perhaps the island Ösel in the Baltic? Pytheas’s own narrative is lost and only later commentaries on his voyage have reached posterity. Many of these commentators doubted and questioned his account and it was all but forgotten. Later descriptions of the northern regions mainly focused on travel on land and described, more or less fancifully, the different peoples and their mores and customs. Almost 1000 years would pass before sailing and exploration of the North Atlantic were again mentioned: the voyage of St. Brendan towards the west and the settlement of Irish monks on the Faroe Islands and Iceland. The Vikings primarily sailed south and southwest, along the European coasts and around the British Isles for trade and plunder, but many also sailed west, reaching the Faroes, Iceland, and eventually Greenland and Vinland. One voyage to the northeast, Ottar’s sailing to the White Sea, was well recorded. The next burst of activity started when Christopher Columbus, on his search for a western sailing route to India, encountered the New World, and when Magellan passed through the straits named after him and crossed the Pacific to Southeast Asia. If a passage to India and to Cathay (China) existed south of the Americas, there should also be one in the north, and searches for the Northwest passage and for a Northeast passage north of the Old World began. These endeavors were largely fruitless, being stopped by ice and the forbidding climate. However, this opened the riches in the northern North Atlantic, the fisheries and whale and seal hunting. Fleets of Dutch and British whalers started to work in the Nordic Seas, west and north of Svalbard and along the Greenland coast. New efforts to discover and navigate the Northeast and Northwest passages began in the 18th century. Russia started its Great Northern Expedition led by Vitus Bering. Bering reached Alaska and found the passage between the North Pacific and the Arctic Ocean, the Bering Strait. The sailing along the northern Eurasian coast from the Barents Sea to Bering Strait was explored along shorter sections that, together, showed that a Northeast passage existed. The Northwest passage was found difficult to discover and navigate, and the search resulted in several fateful expeditions. In 1751, captain Henry Ellis lowered a bucket fitted with a thermometer and sampled the deep water in the equatorial Atlantic. He found that the temperature decreased with depth until 1200 m after which it remained constant. The deep temperature was low, around 9°C. It was later suggested by Benjamin Thompson that this was an indication that colder and denser water from high latitudes flowed towards the equator in the deep and that a corresponding surface flow from the equator should exist. This insight regarding the deep circulation of the oceans has been present ever since, but in the 19th century it led to controversy. Were the ocean currents mainly driven by the winds, or were the cooling at high and heating at low latitudes the main force of large-scale ocean circulation? This question is still with us today. During the 18th century, the idea of an ice-free Arctic Ocean was put forward by several scientists and this idea has remained for a long time, influencing the explorations conducted in the late 18th and 19th centuries. The goal was now not the Northeast or Northwest passages but to sail to the North Pole and find a direct route from the North Atlantic to the North Pacific across the Arctic Ocean. The hope, or illusion, of an ice-free Polar sea was not dispersed until Fridtjof Nansen with Fram entered the sea ice north of the New Siberian Islands in 1993 and started the Fram drift across the Polar sea.

Keywords

Pytheas voyage; Thule; North Atlantic; Arctic Ocean; Northeast passage; Northwest passage; ice free Polar Ocean; deep water temperatures; global thermohaline ocean circulation; the drift of Fram

To the north, beyond the known world, was water, a part of the ocean surrounding the world. The first dedicated exploration of the high north was also made by ship. In 325 BCE the Greek geographer Pytheas left Massilia (Marseille) and sailed through the Pillars of Hercules and turned north into the North Atlantic (Section 1.1). He circumnavigated the British Isles and reached the Shetland Islands, perhaps also the Faroe Islands. The identity of his Ultima Thule is still unknown and open to debate. Was it Iceland? Was it Norway? Or perhaps the island Ösel in the Baltic? Pytheas’s own narrative is lost and only later commentaries on his voyage have reached posterity. Many of these commentators doubted and questioned his account and it was all but forgotten.

Later descriptions of the northern regions mainly focused on travel on land and described, more or less fancifully, the different peoples and their mores and customs. Almost 1000 years would pass before sailing and exploration of the North Atlantic again were mentioned: the voyage of St. Brendan toward the west and the settlement of Irish monks on the Faroe Islands and on Iceland. The Vikings primarily sailed south and southwest, along the European coasts and around the British Isles for trade and plunder, but many also sailed west, reaching the Faroes, Iceland, and eventually Greenland and Vinland. One voyage to the northeast, Ottar’s sailing to the White Sea, was well recorded (Section 1.1).

The next burst of activity started when Cristopher Columbus, on his search for a western sailing route to India, encountered the New World, and when Magellan passed through the straits now named after him and crossed the Pacific to Southeast Asia. If a passage to India and to Cathay (China) existed south of the Americas, there should also be one in the north, and the search for the Northwest passage and also for a Northeast passage north of the Old World began (Section 1.2). These endeavors were largely fruitless, being stopped by ice and the forbidding climate. However, they opened up riches in the northern North Atlantic: the fisheries and the whale and seal hunting. Fleets of Dutch and British whalers started to work in the Nordic Seas, west and north of Svalbard and along the Greenland coast.

New efforts to discover and navigate the Northeast and Northwest passages began in the 18th century (Section 1.3). Russia started its Great Northern Expedition led by Vitus Bering. Bering reached Alaska and found the passage between the North Pacific and the Arctic Ocean, now called Bering Strait. Sailing along the northern Eurasian coast from the Barents Sea to Bering Strait was attempted along shorter sections that together showed that a Northeast passage existed. The Northwest passage was found to be difficult to discover and navigate and the search resulted in several ill-fated expeditions (Section 1.3).

In 1751 Captain Henry Ellis lowered a bucket fitted with a thermometer and sampled the deep water in the equatorial Atlantic. He found that the temperature decreased with depth until 1200 m after which it remained constant. The deep temperature was low, around 9°C. It was later suggested by Benjamin Thompson (1798) that this was an indication that colder and denser water from high latitudes flowed toward the equator in the deep and that a corresponding surface flow from the equator should exist (Section 1.4). This insight about the deep circulation of the oceans has been present ever since, but in the 19th century it led to controversies. Were the ocean currents mainly driven by the winds, or were the cooling at high latitudes and heating at low latitudes the main forcing of the large-scale ocean circulation (Section 1.4)? This question is with us still today.

During the 18th century the idea of an ice-free Arctic Ocean was put forward by several scientists and this idea remained for a long time, influencing the explorations conducted in the late 18th and the 19th century. The goal was now not the Northeast or Northwest passages but to sail to the North Pole and to find a direct route from the North Atlantic to the North Pacific across the Arctic Ocean (Section 1.5). The hope, or illusion, of an ice-free Polar sea was not dispersed until Fridtjof Nansen with Fram entered the sea ice north of the New Siberian Islands in 1993 and started the Fram drift across the Polar sea (Section 1.6). This chapter is largely based on Nansen (1911), Laktionov (1960), Deacon (1971), Lainema and Nurminen (2001), Hayes (2003), and Mills (2009).

1.1 In the Northern mist

The northern regions of the world were in antiquity associated with darkness and cold, a place where people could barely live. It is odd that the long days in summer did not make a similar impression. Perhaps the story of the Hyperboreans, living north of the Riphean Mountains at the border of the ocean that encircled the world, reflects this possibility. Their land was beyond the influence of the cold north wind and they enjoyed warmth and sunshine (Herodotos). The knowledge about the northern regions had mainly been collected from descriptions provided by traders and occasional adventurers that had followed the inland waterways northward from the Mediterranean Sea. That the world was surrounded by water appears to have been commonly accepted, and the best way to explore the northern regions might well be by sea, sailing out of the Mediterranean through the Pillars of Hercules and entering the world ocean (Nansen, 1911) (Fig. 1.1). This was done by Pytheas from the Greek colony Massilia in 325 BCE.

Figure 1.1 A world map by Hekataios of Miletos (c.550 BCE to c.476 BCE) showing the surrounding world ocean. Source: From Nansen, F., 1911. Nord. i tåkeheimen, Jakob Dybwads Forlag, Kristiania, 603 (in Norwegian).

Pytheas was a mathematician and geographer and had constructed the gnomon by which he could measure the zenith angle of the sun and, on the longest day, find the latitude of a chosen place. He determined the latitude of Massilia with an accuracy not improved in centuries. This instrument and also the hours the sun stayed above the horizon during the longest day were used to determine the latitudes of the places he visited. However, it is also likely that there were commercial interests and backing for the expedition. One of the goals was to find the source of the tin that entered the Mediterranean either via the trade routes over Gaul or carried by the Phoenicians on ships. The Phoenicians were in control of the sea routes and effectively blocked the passage out of the Mediterranean into the Atlantic. Moreover, the Phoenicians, like most traders, were secretive of their routes and destinations and did not appreciate competition. However, during the 320s BCE the Phoenicians were weakened by war and their control of the western Mediterranean had slackened, and it is possible that Pytheas at this time could sail into the North Atlantic through the Pillars of Hercules. He then continued along the Iberian coast west and north and sailed into the Bay of Biscay until he reached Armorica (Bretagne). During the voyage he noted the high tides of the North Atlantic, in contrast to the almost tideless Mediterranean. He then crossed over to Cornwall and the tin mining areas and continued along the west coast of Britain to its northernmost point, perhaps passing through the Outer Hebrides. He then sailed north to the Orkneys and Shetland Islands.

The fact that Pytheas sailed out of the Mediterranean has been questioned by some recent authors (Payne, 2014; Abulafia, 2019), who instead suggest that he traveled overland from the Mediterranean to the Bay of Biscay and there joined the ship that took him on his further voyage. These authors also question, as did the authors of antiquity, the extent and the more remote discoveries of his travel. Did he circumnavigate Britain and how far beyond did his voyage extend?

It is north of Britain that the route and the narrative become vague. Pytheas heard from local inhabitants that an island, Thule, where the sun in summer did not set, was located 6 days of sailing to the northwest and that another day of sailing would bring him into a region, where the sea was congealed and where air and sea and ice became undistinguished and blurred. Where Thule is to be found has been argued over since Pytheas’s voyage became known again in the 19th century. Nansen (1911) suggested that Thule might be a part of Norway, while Stefansson (1947) favored Iceland. The observations given by Pytheas could indicate both places, but the description of the congealed sea, suggests the presence of sea ice, which points to Denmark Strait and the ice carrying East Greenland Current. After this northern exploration Pytheas returned to Britain, sailing south along the British east coast. He then crossed to the European mainland and continued north along the North Sea coast, perhaps as far as Jutland, and then turned back and sailed along the south coast of Britain, completing the circumnavigating the island (Fig. 1.2).

Figure 1.2 A world map by Eratosthenes (276–196 BCE) showing the locations of the British Isles and of Thule, indicating that Eratosthenes largely accepted Pytheas’s account of his voyage. Source: From Nansen, F., 1911. Nord. i tåkeheimen, Jakob Dybwads Forlag, Kristiania, 603 (in Norwegian).

Pytheas’s own narrative of the voyage has been lost and only quotations from the work in other sources, or quotations of quotations remain. In the beginning Pytheas’s description was well received but with time it became regarded as unreliable and most of his commentators, Polybius, Strabo, Pliny were skeptical if not hostile. One of the arguments forwarded by Strabo was that humans could not, because of the cold, live this far to the north (Fig. 1.3).

Figure 1.3 A map of Europe by Pomponius Mela from CE 43 showing some of the peoples and places mentioned in the main text. Source: From Nansen, F., 1911. Nord. i tåkeheimen, Jakob Dybwads Forlag, Kristiania, 603 (in Norwegian).

This verdict stayed well into the 19th century, when Pytheas’s description of his voyage again was taken seriously and the astronomical data he provided were used to determine possible positions for the observations. Both Iceland and part of Norway fit the picture and perhaps not more can be expected based on the available commentaries. They point to a sailor that has been at a geographical location and has determined his position, or at least his latitude, astronomically. The observations of the ice infested water suggest the East Greenland Current and Iceland, but that must remain speculation.

The perhaps most interesting detail is the statement that Pytheas had heard from the local population on the Orkneys or the Shetland Islands, presumably from sailors, about the existence of Thule, which indirectly implies that they, or someone that they knew about, had been there. If Pytheas then did not reach Thule himself, he must have been told the duration of the day at midsummer and other astronomical facts from his sources. This is perhaps unlikely, and Pytheas most probably visited Thule, but other sailors and navigators of the North Atlantic must have done so even earlier. This points to the, perhaps universal, habit of sailors, traders, and fishermen to not easily give information about their routes and goals, be it fishing grounds or the location of tin mines as with the Phoenicians. Much was probably known about the North Atlantic and its shores and islands at the dawn of our history that has not come down to us.

After Pytheas’ voyage the North Atlantic is all but absent in the chronicles of travels and geographical lore for more than 1000 years. Most of the new knowledge was gathered from traders that journeyed overland and focused primarily on where different people lived and about their characteristics, manners, mores, and beliefs (Fig. 1.3). The geographical knowledge was also largely forgotten. The Earth was no longer a sphere but became a disk, although the world was still surrounded by ocean (Fig. 1.4).

Figure 1.4 A medieval T-O map of the world showing Asia at the top with Jerusalem at the center, separated by the river Don and the Red Sea from Europe and Africa. Europe and Africa are separated by the Mediterranean Sea and the whole world is surrounded by ocean. The map is from a 9th century manuscript in the library of Strasbourg. Source: From Nansen, F., 1911. Nord. i tåkeheimen, Jakob Dybwads Forlag, Kristiania, 603 (in Norwegian).

It was in the 880s CE that Ottar, a Norwegian living north of the Arctic circle, sailed north along the western coast of the known world. He journeyed beyond the familiar common fishing grounds and hunting areas for seals, walruses, and whales, and as the coast turned eastwards, he rounded its northernmost cape (North Cape) and continued eastward. He sailed 4 days due east beyond the Kola Peninsula and reached the strait leading to the White Sea, which he entered and then continued south for 5 days until he encountered the mouth of a large river (Dvina). He reported on the people he encountered but did not get in contact to avoid hostilities and after leaving the White Sea he headed for home. In contrast to Pytheas’ sailings this northern voyage became documented almost immediately because Ottar visited Alfred, king of Wessex, and described his sailing to the north and east. Alfred evidently thought this information significant enough to be added to his own edition of Paulus Orosius’s history, and Ottar’s account was written down and preserved without later distortions.

Ottar’s sailing to the north was an exception among the voyages of the western Vikings, Danes, and Norwegians, which primarily were directed toward the south and southwest for conquest, plunder, or trade. However, some of the Viking voyages were directed west, perhaps first by chance, driven off course by bad weather and hard winds, but later for settlements in Iceland and in Greenland, which was sighted and settled in the late 10th century by Erik the Red. Erik’s son Leif, on a direct return voyage from Norway to Greenland, missed the southern cape of Greenland and reached new land to the west, which he named Vinland. Whether this was the present-day Labrador, Newfoundland or the northern part of Nova Scotia is uncertain. Several sailings from Greenland to the new lands were made in the beginning of the 11th century but then eventually stopped.

The Viking settlements established in the Orkneys, Shetland Islands, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland formed a rather close community across the North Atlantic over several centuries involving trade and fishery, which extended farther south, to Britain and to Portugal. The Portuguese, known for keeping their sailing directions secret, probably did not actively spread the knowledge of the lands in the northern North Atlantic but in the Nordic countries they were well established and contacts across the northern North Atlantic were frequent over several centuries.

1.2 The search for the Northeast and Northwest passages

The voyages of Cristopher Columbus to reach India by sailing west and his discovery of the New World in 1492 changed the European view of the North Atlantic and the seas farther north. To sail to India or to Cathay it was necessary to either sail south around the southern cape of Africa, if such existed, or sail south or north of the newly discovered continent, or north and eastward around the Old World. Bartolomeu Diaz rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, and Vasco Da Gama entered the Indian Ocean in 1497. Ferdinand Magellan sailed south along the American continent and eventually navigated through the narrow passages now named after him and reached the Pacific Ocean in 1520.

In 1494 a treaty was signed in Tordesillas between Spain and Portugal and sanctioned by the Pope, which separated their explorations by a meridian running roughly in the middle of the Atlantic. Portugal should explore the regions east of this meridian and Spain the regions west of the dividing meridian. This treaty saved the unity of Christianity, but it barred other seafaring nations from reaching the riches of India and Cathay via the southern routes. The only passages left were those north of the Old World and the New World, if these could be found.

John Cabot, originally from Genoa but employed by the English, sailed already in 1497 along the North American coast without finding any passage. The same conclusion was reached by the brothers Sangre-Real in 1500 and 1502. The French expedition led by John Cartier discovered the Bay of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence River in 1535 but this was not entered on the maps until 25 years later. The St. Lawrence was an entry point to the inner American continent, but it was not a passage through the continent to the Pacific Ocean. The English efforts to find a passage to Cathay were therefore concentrated to the northeast, north of the Old World. In 1553 an expedition with three ships led by Hugh Willoughby and Robert Chancellor left in search of the Northeast passage. The outcome of the expedition was mixed. Willoughby’s ship was wrecked in a storm and he and his crew perished. Chancellor managed to reach the White Sea, as Ottar had almost 700 years before, and sailed south to the mouth of Dvina and the Russian town Archangelsk, where he established contact with Russian traders. This was the beginning of a lucrative commercial venture that, at least for a time, obscured the goal of finding the Northeast passage.

The English were not alone in searching for a passage east, also Holland, which now had become independent of the Spanish crown, wanted to reach the riches of the east. An initial expedition in 1584 was led by Oliver Brunel, who had previously established a trading station on the Kola Peninsula, which reached as far east as Novaya Zemlya. Three further voyages were then made in 1594, 1595, and 1596 with Willem Barents as first pilot. The expedition in 1594 comprised four vessels and Barents first tried to enter the Kara Sea north of Novaya Zemlya but was stopped by ice. He then turned south, following the coast of Novaya Zemlya and noticed the strait of Matochin Shar that separated the two islands of Novaya Zemlya. When Barents reached the Kara Gate between the European Mainland and Novaya Zemlya, he found that the other ships already had passed through the strait and entered the Kara Sea. Satisfied with this result the expedition returned to Amsterdam. The following expedition set sail the next year but the ice conditions were extremely bad and the ships returned. The last expedition in 1596 was financed by merchants in Amsterdam and comprised two ships. This time the expedition took a more northerly course and discovered Bear Island and by continuing northward also found a mountainous island which was named Spitzbergen, one of the islands in the Svalbard Archipelago. The expedition continued northward along the west coast of Svalbard and eventually reached beyond 80°N, the northernmost point attained at the time. The waters were full of whales, walrus, and seals, which eventually would lead to rivalry between the Dutch and the English.

After the ships returned south from Spitzbergen, they sailed eastward into the Barents Sea toward Novaya Zemlya. The ice conditions were severe and the ships became separated. Barents could not sail southward along the western coast of Novaya Zemlya but instead passed beyond the northern cape of the island and became trapped in the ice. The crew had to leave the ship and overwinter on land at a place they called Ice Haven. Many died during the winter and Barents’s conviction was that to survive they had, when opportunity arose, to sail in a small life boat to the Kola Peninsula. This they did in summer, but Barents could not make it back, and he died at the beginning of the voyage (Häkli, 1992a) (Fig. 1.5).

Figure 1.5 A map of the Arctic Ocean by Willem Barents drawn around 1598 showing the then known features of surrounding lands and islands. The ships north of Svalbard probably indicate open water, Whalers’ Bay. Source: Downloaded from Wikimedia commans.

England recommenced the search for the Northeast passage in 1608 and Henry Hudson was chosen as navigator. Hudson had the year before, backed by merchants in London, made a voyage directly toward the North Pole and had penetrated as far north as 80° 23' N west of Spitzbergen. Hudson described the rich wildlife in the area and also discovered an unknown island, which he called Hudson’s Tutches, which was later rediscovered by Jan May and is now known as Jan Mayen. Hudson’s backers were satisfied with his 1607 voyage and decided on a new effort to find the Northeast passage. Hudson had three possibilities to enter the Kara Sea, north of Novaya Zemlya, through Matochin Shar between the two islands, or through the passages south of Novaya Zemlya. The northern route was blocked by ice and Hudson did not find Matochin Shar, but the passages to the south were open. However, the crew refused to sail farther and Hudson had to return to London.

This voyage marked the end of the English and Dutch efforts to find the Northeast passage. Holland had forced Spain to open its half of the world for free trade and there was then no need for futile high-latitude ventures to find the Northeast passage, and England shifted its search to the Northwest passage. However, both nations remained in the north for whale and seal hunting, which evolved into a large and profitable industry.

The English search for a passage to Cathay north of America started in earnest in 1576, when Martin Frobisher sailed northward west of Greenland and encountered what he took as a passage west, but it was found to be just a bay, now called Frobisher Bay. Frobisher brought some mineral samples back, which were first believed to be gold ore. The Northwest passage was forgotten and Frobisher led two further expeditions to mine the ore. Unfortunately, the ore was not gold but iron pyrite and no fortunes were made.

In 1585 and 1587 John Davis made two voyages to west of Greenland and sailed north of Frobisher Bay and entered through the strait between Greenland and Baffin Island, later named Davis Strait. Davis was an acute observer and provided much information about the sailing and the climate of the northern reaches of the ocean and of the surrounding lands and people. He could not find any opening to the west, but as he turned south he noticed a passage with strong currents and suggested that this might indicate a passage west through the North American continent. That such a passage existed was strongly believed, and it already had a name, the Strait of Anian, probably taken from a province in China found in Marco Polo’s book. Francis Drake had tried to find its opening on the Pacific side in 1579, during his circumnavigation of the world with the Golden Hind.

Hudson was in 1610 given command to sail into John Davis’s current vortex south of Frobisher Bay, which is now known as Hudson Strait. Beyond the strait the sea opened into a large water body that almost seemed to be a northern passage to the Pacific. Hudson followed the coast that turned south and when he reached the southern end, it was already November and the expedition had to overwinter. In spring and summer, when the expedition could leave its winter harbor, there was a mutiny. Hudson, his young son, and eight members of the crew were put into a boat and left to their fate in the ice as the ship sailed for England. The mutineers were put on trial when they returned to England but were saved by presenting the maps and notes made by Hudson during the expedition.

These notes and sailing directions were regarded as promising enough to risk further expeditions through Hudson Strait to find the Northwest passage. The first expedition in 1612 was commanded by Thomas Button, who concluded that Hudson had sailed into a bay, but, based on tidal observations, he left the option open that a passage west might exist somewhere in the northern part of the bay. The subsequent expeditions under Robert Bylot, 1615, and Luke Foxe, 1631, concluded that there was no further passage west to be found in the bay. Hudson Bay, named after Henry Hudson, would in the late 17th century become the center of the perhaps largest early commercial enterprise in North America, the Hudson’s Bay Company, which in the fur trade provided, among other commodities, the beaver skins needed for men’s hats in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

Bylot, who had sailed with Hudson and taken part in one and commanded the other of the three later expeditions to Hudson Bay, returned to the north in 1616, also on this expedition with William Baffin as his navigator and pilot. Instead of entering Hudson Bay they continued north through Davis Strait and explored the waters beyond. They followed the Greenland coast and discovered the three passages out of the bay, later to be called Baffin Bay, the Thomas Smith Sound, the Francis Jones’ Sound to the north, and the James Lancaster Sound to the west. Baffin found the Lancaster Sound full of ice and concluded that it could not be the entrance to the Northwest passage. As time would show, Baffin was mistaken. The conclusion of this extensive sailing north, they reached 77°45'N, was that no Northwest passage could be found by this route. The charting of the bay was meticulous, but Baffin’s notes were not published and were later lost; on charts and maps drawn in the late 18th century Baffin Bay and the coasts north of Davis Strait were not to be found.

These efforts put a temporary end to the search for the Northwest passage but in the east Russian explorers continued to follow the coastline eastward. The northernmost cape of the Asian mainland, Cape Chelyuskin, was discovered by land in the early 17th century, and the Cossack Ivan Robrov sailed from Lena to Yana and to Indigirka. In 1648 Semen Dezhnev started from Kolyma and sailed eastward round the easternmost point of Asia, later named Cape Dezhnev, and entered the North Pacific, where he continued to the mouth of the river Anadyr. That the Northeast Passage existed and that Asia was separated from North America were thus known almost a century before Vitus Bering and the Great Northern Expedition but these findings, like those of Baffin and Bylot, appear to have been forgotten or ignored.

1.3 A century of exploration

In the 18th century the initiative for the expeditions shifted from merchants and traders to the governments, and the expeditions became more focused on discovery, founding colonies, and extending the influence and rule of the home country. In Russia Peter I sent in 1725, the last year of his rule, Vitus Bering, a Dane employed by the Russian navy, to chart the eastern part of the conquered lands in northern Siberia and to find its connection, or separation, from North America. Bering had to travel from St. Petersburg to the Sea of Okhotsk and there construct his vessels and sail north and east along the Siberian coast. Bering rediscovered the easternmost cape of Siberia and that it was possible to sail from the North Pacific to the Arctic Ocean. However, in the fog he could not make out the coast of America and how far east the American continent was located.

On his return Bering was criticized for not fulfilling his orders, but he managed to get a second opportunity. He was appointed to lead the Great Northern Expedition, by which not only the strait between Asia and America, Bering Strait, was to be charted, but the entire Russian coast from the White Sea to Bering Strait. The charting was separated into several smaller parts, and was carried out by different groups between 1730 and 1750. At the end of the expedition the entire northern coast of Russia, except the part between Kolyma and Bering Strait was charted. This was the part that Semen Dezhnev had sailed a century before. On this second expedition Vitus Bering sighted and landed on the American continent. The stay was short. The crew became ill with scurvy and the overwintering was abandoned. In spite of bad weather Bering with his two ships sailed back home, but Bering’s ship was stranded in storm and fog on what is now Bering Island, where he died.

Bering and his expedition did not make a complete charting of Bering Strait. That was done by Cook on his last voyage, when he sailed north along the American west coast looking for the entrance to the Strait of Anian, connecting the North Atlantic to the North Pacific. The entrance was not found by Cook and a following expedition lead by George Vancouver finally removed the last hope for the existence of the fabled strait. However, Cook made a thorough survey of the Bering Strait, which would be the only possible exit into the Pacific Ocean for any ship that ventured into the Arctic Ocean or found its way through the Northwest passage (Okhuizen, 1992) (Fig. 1.6).

Figure 1.6 Map of the Bering Strait region from the late 18th century including the findings from the voyages by James Cook. Source: From Okhuizen, E., 1992. Utforskningen och kartläggningem av Nordodtpassagen och norra Eurasian från 1400 till 1800-talet. In: Häkli. E., Nurminen, J., Raurala, N.-E. (Eds), Nordostpassagen, Helsingfors Universitetsförlag, John Nurminens Stiftelse, Helsingfors, pp. 10–49.

In Hudson Bay the Hudson’s Bay Company was concentrating on trade and to fight the French. Most of its stations were lost during the war of the Spanish succession but were returned after the peace treaty of Utrecht 1713. The idea, or hope, that a connection existed between the Atlantic and the Pacific through Hudson Bay was not forgotten, and the man the company sent to reestablish trade, James Knight, had the ambition to find the Strait of Anian and the hoped-for riches hidden in the north. He made the company grant him two vessels for the search, but his expedition, which set out in 1719, perished in the ice. In London the politician Arthur Dobbs was persuading the Admiralty to send two expeditions to Hudson Bay to search for the passage, accusing the Hudson’s Bay Company of not trying, and ventured that the French might be the first to find the passage. The first expedition, 1741–42, was commanded by Christopher Middleton and the second, 1746–47, was led by William Moor, who had been second-in-command on the Middleton expedition. Both expeditions had to overwinter with a large death toll. The conclusion was clear. If a passage existed it must be located farther to the north and, as Cook’s and Vancouver’s voyages would show, end in the Arctic Ocean.

In the 18th century the idea of sailing directly north across the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific, passing the North Pole, had gained credibility. To sail directly to the North Pole was not a new idea. It had been tried in 1040 by the Friesians, who had left the river Weser, sailing north in the North Atlantic. They reached Iceland but after that the descriptions of their hardships and adventures and their miraculous deliverance are hard to accept. More is known about Henry Hudson’s failed attempt to sail across the Arctic Ocean west of Svalbard (see above). Robert Thorne, an English merchant, forwarded in 1527 the idea that the continuous daylight during the summer months would prevent the formation of an impenetrable ice cover. Another idea was that an ocean in perpetual motion would not freeze. The Dutch mapmaker Peter Plancius favored this possibility. The Russian scientist Michael Lomonosov proposed that pack ice only forms when attached to land and far into the sea open water would be found. Lomonosov proposed in 1759 and 1760 a program for sailing from northern Svalbard to Bering Strait and this idea was tested in 1765 and 1766 by Vasily Chichagov, but he did not reach farther than 80° 28'N before he was stopped by the ice.

The idea was brought up again in 1772 by Louis-Antoine de Bougainville and in the same year the Swiss geographer and librarian Samuel Engel maintained that because sea ice contains little salt, it implies that seawater cannot freeze, and if the sailing routes were kept away from the influences of the river runoff open water would be encountered. De Bougainville wrote a detailed proposal for an expedition across the North Pole but his proposal was rejected. However, the new vice-president of the Royal Society in London, Daines Barrington, heard about the proposal. Barrington himself was an adherent of the ice-free Polar sea and manage to convince the Admiralty to organize an expedition to try how far navigation was practical toward the North Pole. The expedition, consisting of two vessels, was commanded by John Phipps and sailed for Svalbard in 1773. Eventually the ships reached 80° 36' N but there they were stopped by the ice and could not proceed farther.

The idea of an ice-free Polar sea did not disappear. John Barrow, secretary at the Admiralty planned a comprehensive study of the Arctic Ocean in 1818. He had been informed by the whaler William Scoresby Jr. that the ice condition in 1817 had been very favorable and the ice in the Greenland Sea had retreated two consecutive years. Scoresby suggested that this opportunity should not be missed, and Barrow planned several large expeditions to the north. One expedition should sail northward between Greenland and Svalbard as far north as it was possible. Another should enter Davis Strait into the almost forgotten Baffin Bay to search for the Northwest passage and ships should also sail north and east from the Pacific to assist the ships as they had proceeded through the passage (Hayes, 2003) (Fig. 1.7). One cause for this intensified activity, apart from Barrow’s personal interest, was the fact that the Napoleonic wars had ended and the navy wanted something to do. Another reason was a fear that Russia, after discovered Bering Strait and colonizing Alaska, would also try to find the passage from the west.

Figure 1.7 Map of the Arctic regions made by John Barrow 1818, at the time when four expeditions were out to explore the Northwest passage and trying to cross the Arctic Ocean. Source: From Hayes, D., 2003. Historical Atlas of the Arctic, University Washington Press, Seattle, 208 pp.

The North Pole expedition was commanded by David Buchan and John Franklin and reached 80° 34'N, not as far north as the 1773 expedition. The expedition west of Greenland was commanded by John Ross. It sailed north through Davis Strait into Baffin Bay. This was the first time since Bylot and Baffin had explored the bay in 1616 that an expedition had penetrated into Baffin Bay. Ross sailed around the bay and largely confirmed the forgotten findings of Bylot and Baffin. He also sighted the same three openings as Baffin had found, Smith Sound, Jones Sound, and Lancaster Sound, but did not recognized them as straits but as bays. Especially in Lancaster Sound, which Baffin had found full of ice and dismissed as a possible entrance to the Northwest passage, Ross reported that it ended in a mountain range, the Croker Mountains, and that no sailing was possible. These mountains were not seen by other members of the expedition, and especially the second-in-command, Edward Parry, claimed that there was open water that should have been explored.

The Croker Mountains put Ross in disfavor, if not disgrace, and Parry was given the command of a new expedition the following year. Parry sailed directly for Lancaster Sound. No Croker Mountains were encountered and Parry could continue westward. Parry was eventually stopped by the approaching winter and the ice, and he had to overwinter at Winter Harbor, the name given to the place. It was not recognized at the time, but Parry had essentially navigated through the Arctic Archipelago and was about to enter Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean and had in a sense completed the Northwest passage. However, to sail from the Beaufort Sea to Bering Strait and the Pacific was still a formidable task, had Parry then known the geography. As summer approached the next year the ships came loose of the ice and Parry returned after a successful cruise and an overwintering with few casualties.

Parry made two more expeditions to look for the Northeast Passage, the first in 1821–23 entering Hudson Bay and then to the northwest, where he located a narrow strait between Baffin Island and Melville Peninsula opening to the west. There was, after all, a second passage out of Hudson Bay but it was frozen also in summer and not navigable. The strait was named the Hecla and Fury Strait after the two vessels of the expedition (Fig. 1.8). On his third expedition, 1825–26, Parry again entered Lancaster Sound and this time sailed south east of Somerset Island but could not proceed to reach the mainland.

Figure 1.8 Map of the Arctic regions of North America after the findings of the expeditions set out in 1818, 1819, and 1820 had been added and the forgotten Baffin Bay again had been charted by John Ross in 1818. Edward Parry’s sailing through the Lancaster Sound in 1819–20 appears as a lonely trail into whiteness. Source: From Hayes, D., 2003. Historical Atlas of the Arctic, University Washington Press, Seattle, 208 pp.

This was also the route taken by John Ross in 1829–33. John Ross wanted to rehabilitate himself after the failure to enter Lancaster Sound on his first voyage and had found private backing for a second expedition. He followed the same course as Parry but reached farther south into the Gulf of Boothia, named after the expedition’s sponsor Felix Booth. There Ross had to overwinter. In winter John Ross, and his nephew James Clark Ross made sledge trips to explore farther south. The ship, Victory, did not came loose of the ice the next summer and another wintering had to be made. During a sledge trip this winter James Ross discovered the location of the magnetic North Pole. In the following summer Victory could only move a few miles before she again was stopped by the ice, and after the third wintering the expedition had to abandon the ship and sledge north to Fury beach where the life boats from Fury were left. The boats were found but late in the year and after only a short sailing the expedition had to overwinter a fourth time. The next year, however, the expedition reached Baffin Bay and was rescued by a whaling ship.

A major final attempt to find the passage was