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SWERUS-C3
SWERUS-C3 (Swedish-Russian-USA program to understand the link between carbon, climate and cryosphere) is an international two-part expedition ot the Arctic Ocean with Swedish icebreaker Oden. The focus of this expedition is the outer East Siberian Shelf and its adjacent slope and ridges. SWERUS-C3 was launched on 5 July 2014. The expedition carries a scientific crew of about 40 persons including Russian/European/US-collaborators on each of the two legs. The change-over of research staff and crew takes place in Barrow, Alaska at the end of August 2014.

The first leg is coordinated by Örjan Gustafsson and has the main theme ‘From permafrost thawing to the venting of greenhouse gases'. The target area is the vast, poorly explored yet critical region for marine permafrost-carbon-climate interactions on the outer East Siberian Arctic Ocean shelf and upper slope. The second leg is coordinated by Martin Jakobsson and has the main theme ‘From warming seawater and shrinking sea ice to venting of greenhouse gases’. This leg involves coring of high-resolution post-glacial sediment archives in Herald Canyon, mapping of gas hydrates, oceanographic investigations and water sampling for determination of greenhouse gas relevant properties along the slope of the East Siberian Sea. Taken together, the two legs provide broad geographical coverage and carry common at-sea sampling and observational strategies. An atmospheric project is carried out active during both legs and to maximize the integration with the other work packages while optimizing the atmospheric sampling; the atmosphere is changing rapidly and long sampling is essential for success.

In July 2014 the scientists discovered vast methane plumes escaping from the seafloor of the Laptev continental slope. According to Örjan Gustafsson, these early glimpses of what may be in store for a warming Arctic Ocean could help scientists project the future releases of the strong greenhouse gas methane from the Arctic Ocean.