Evidence indicates a thick ice sheet, not annual sea ice and icebergs, covered the Arctic Ocean at some point during the last 140,000 years. Now, University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists will be looking for more geologic proof of the ice sheet’s existence, sources, behavior and extent.
They call it “ice liberty,” a tradition during the Coast Guard’s maritime missions in Arctic waters. At a thick ice floe, the crew gets to disembark for a brief moment
This has been, in part, a training mission for the 85 crew members, a task that has added importance as the Coast Guard prepares to increase the U.S. Arctic presence with three new icebreakers that later in this decade are planned to be homeported in Seattle.