Abstract:

Perennial coverage of sea ice has meant that the Arctic Ocean is much less well explored than other oceans. Systematic Arctic Ocean exploration began during the 1990s, and the commissioning of new investigative equipment and methods such as icebreakers and submarines has meant that researchers have been able to select research targets. This has led to the success of several geological and geophysical scientific investigation of the Arctic Ocean, including the Scientific Ice Expeditions, Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge Expedition, Arctic Gakkel Vents Expedition, and IODP 302. This paper reviews several important systematic geological and geophysical expeditions of the Arctic Ocean, and it summarizes the leading scientific problems, i.e., the properties and evolution of major Arctic tectonic units, structural and metallogenetic characteristics of an ultraslow spreading ridge, and Cenozoic evolution of the paleo-Arctic Ocean. Based on our review, three primary conclusions were drawn: (1) investigation methods are the key element constraining the development of Arctic Ocean exploration, (2) icebreakers combined with regular investigating methods constitute the major trend of development in Arctic Ocean exploration, (3) near-bottom investigation helps solve the geological problems of the Arctic Ocean.

Key words: Arctic Ocean, scientific expedition, geology and geophysics, investigation methods