During august - oktober 2001 the geoscientific experiment AMORE (Arctic Mid Ocean Ridge Experiment) was carried out. This German-American joint project involved two large icebreakers, USCGC Healy and DPFS Polarstern .

One topic within the project was measuring crustal heat flow across the very slow spreading Gakkel Ridge. One question is: How does cooling happen at a slow spreading ridge compared to faster spreading ridges? Which conclusions can be drawn on the amount of hydrothermal circulation?

According to scientific questions, heat flow measurements were located along and across the Gakkel Ridge. One profile even touches the north pole. Reliable measurements could be gained at 19 sites. This allows a contribution for the characterization of slow spreading ridges. A white spot on a world map of heat flow measurements could be closed. Processing and interpretation of data is recently in progress.