SCICEX, standing for ''Scientific Ice Expeditions'', was a five-year (1995–1999) scientific research program involving a collaboration between the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

and academic researchers from a variety of different universities. The object of study was geophysical and oceanological conditions in the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

. The Navy made available a nuclear submarine for each research cruise.

Margo Edwards Margo Helen Edwards is a marine geologist known for mapping of the seafloor and hydrothermal vents. She led the 1999 SCICEX and was the first women to live aboard a United States' Navy submarine while doing under-ice research. Education and c ...

was the chief scientist for the 1999 expedition and spent thirteen days on the USS Hawkbill, thereby becoming the first women to live aboard a Navy nuclear submarine during under-ice operations. Edwards' research found evidence of climate change in the Arctic, including thinning sea ice, volcanoes on the seafloor, and warm water moving into the Arctic from the Atlantic Ocean. These data are available for anyone to view.

List of Expeditions

* SCICEX/93 ·

USS Pargo Two ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS ''Pargo'', named in honor of the pargo, a fish of the genus ''Lutjanus'' found in the West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atla ...

* SCICEX/95 · USS Cavalla * SCICEX/96 · USS Pogy * SCICEX/97 · USS Archerfish * SCICEX/98 · USS Hawkbill * SCICEX/99 · USS Hawkbill

External links

SCICEX web site2004 article on the SCICEX program
in ''

Arctic Research of the United States The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...

'' magazine
SCICEX/96 photo gallery
on the USS Pogy web site
SCICEX Phase 2 Memorandum of Agreement
from 2000 on the

Arctic Submarine Laboratory The Arctic Submarine Laboratory is a research facility of the U.S. Navy's Undersea Warfighting Development Center in San Diego, California. It began as a converted World War II mortar emplacement, ''Battery Whistler'', and was focused on s ...

web site
SCICEX/99 page
at the USS Hawkbill web site
SCICEX/99 page
at the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for ...

Institute of Marine Science
CNN documentary on SCICEX/99
in ''

Undersea Warfare Underwater warfare is one of the three operational areas of naval warfare, the others being surface warfare and aerial warfare. It refers to combat conducted underwater such as: *Actions by submarines actions, and anti-submarine warfare, i.e. ...

'' magazine
USS Pogy Alumni Site

References

Scientific organizations based in the United States Oceanography Environmental science Arctic research {{arctic-stub