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Testing the icy waters

En-route to Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost city in the United States, researchers from WHOI pass over the remote, rugged terrain of the Arctic Circle. The WHOI research team, led by Al Plueddemann and Amy Kukulya, set out on an ice expedition out of Barrow to test the under-ice capabilities of the REMUS AUV and its ability to measure the inflow of Pacific water and that water’s role in maintaining the Arctic halocline, a layer of cold water that serves as a barrier between warmer water below and sea ice above. Halocline is a critical component in understanding global climate change.
(Photo by Amy Kukulya, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)