The Journey of a Lifetime

Blog originally posted in the i2B Arctic Ocean Expedition website.

The Journey of a Lifetime

Friday 19th September

 _{Text: Jochen Knies} 

And just like that - it’s over! After 35 incredible days at sea, we’ve wrapped up our expedition to search the geological archives for clues about past interglacials - those warmer-than-present climate periods.

Did we succeed? Well, we can’t say for certain yet. But we’ve retrieved about 250 meters of sediment cores from nearly all the key locations we set out to visit. We've already opened many of these cores and are beginning to see patterns emerge - patterns that will guide our efforts to reconstruct past warm climates over the coming months and years.

But right now, scientific results aren’t the most important thing.

When I started writing this blog, I emphasized four simple principles: enjoy the journey, stay safe, support each other, and use common sense. And we did just that. Most importantly, every single one of us is back safe and healthy.

Even in the final hours aboard the RV Kronprins Haakon, we worked together to clean the ship and pack up our gear - one last show of teamwork that really sums up this expedition. Judging by the blog entries from our entire team, it's clear that people genuinely enjoyed the experience.

Of course, it wasn’t all work. Our around-the-clock sampling shifts were regularly interrupted by jaw-dropping sights: massive icebergs off East Greenland, glacier calving in Svalbard fjords, a stop at the North Pole, and even a sighting of a single polar bear (yes, one polar bear 😊). On the very last day, the Northern Lights graced us with a farewell show—a spectacular end to what truly was a journey of a lifetime.

So, what comes next? The sediment cores we collected will now be distributed to various institutions and laboratories for analysis. A "sampling party" will bring together all interested research groups, and we expect to share our first findings at the annual i2B meeting in Tromsø, scheduled for April 2026.

By then, we’ll already be preparing for our next adventure: a second i2B cruise, this time in search of sediments from the Pliocene and Miocene—periods even warmer than the interglacials we studied this summer.

So, stay tuned. We’ll be back in the Arctic next summer, chasing ancient climates once again!