Arctic Paleooceanography Drilling Project

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***THIS TENDER REQUIREMENT WAS ABANDONED PRIOR TO A CONTRACT AWARD DECISION*** CLOSING TIME FOR BIDS IS 28/06/2017 14:00 HOURS. DO NOT APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE BUYER. To express your interest in this opportunity email ExpressionOfInterest@crowncommercial.gov.uk. To register on our e-sourcing portal click on https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk and follow the link "Register for CCS eSourcing" Prior to 2004, geological sampling in the Arctic Ocean was mainly restricted to near-surface Quaternary sediments, and therefore the long-term Pre- Quaternary geological history was poorly known. With the successful completion of the Arctic Coring Expedition - ACEX (IODP Expedition 302) in 2004, 428 meters of Quaternary, Neogene, Paleogene and Campanian sediment on Lomonosov Ridge were penetrated, providing new unique insights into the Cenozoic Arctic paleoceanographic and climatic history. While highly successful, the ACEX record also had limitations. The ACEX sequence possibly contains either a large hiatus or an interval of strongly reduced sedimentation rates spanning the time interval from late Eocene to middle Miocene. This is a critical time interval, as it spans the time when prominent changes in global climate took place during the transition from the early Cenozoic Greenhouse world to the late Cenozoic Icehouse world. Furthermore, discontinuous recovery during ACEX prevented