The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has carried out four ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle) dives and has acquired depth data (bathymetry) near the Vøring Spur in the western Norwegian Sea.

This year’s expedition resulted in more than 100 kg of samples from the deep water seabed. The deepest completed ROV dive was 3570 meters, NPD informed.

The operations were conducted by the Centre for Deep Sea Research at the University of Bergen (UiB).

The Vøring Spur is a subsea ridge located in the central Norwegian Sea, and knowledge about the subsurface from this ridge will provide more information concerning the opening of the North Atlantic.

According to NPD, the primary objective of this year’s operations at the Vøring Spur was to acquire bathymetry, collect local rock samples from exposed rock and collect manganese crusts.

The collected materials will arrive in Bergen in late July/early August.

Preliminary results indicate that the samples consist of silt and sandstone, in addition to certain substantial local deposits of manganese crusts.