A RESEARCH STATION HAS BEGUN DRIFTING WITH ARCTIC SEA ICE. HERE'S WHY SCIENTISTS PUT IT THERE.

ORONO, Maine, Sept. 18 -- University of Maine issued the following news release:

By Lee Karp-Boss

Professor, School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine

A new research station has begun drifting with sea ice in the high Arctic, marking the start of an ambitious international effort to study one of the fastest-changing and least-understood regions on Earth.

On Sept. 9, Tara Polar Station reached its target location in the central Arctic Ocean at approximately 82.4oN and 155.1oE. An accompanying research icebreaker helped clear a path through the ice to the station's deployment site.

Now moored to a large ice floe, the station has begun its drift. As winter cold stabilizes the surrounding ice, scientists and crew will begin observatio...