The Chukchi Cap is a large undersea ridge in the Arctic Ocean.[1][2] The cap is normally ice-covered, year-round. The United States Coast Guard Cutter Healy has been sent on multiple missions to map the poorly explored ridge.
The cap lies roughly about 800 kilometres north of the Point Barrow, Alaska.[1][2] The area is notable because it is believed to be rich in natural resources (especially oil, natural gas and manganese) and it is in disputed waters.
In 2011, scientists aboard sea vessel, Marcus G. Langseth, ran tests to increase understanding of the geology, structure and history of the continental shelves running underwater off Asia and North America, and the Chukchi Borderland, an adjoining region of dramatic deep-sea plateaus and ridges some 800 miles from the North Pole. One test includes sending sound pulses to the seabed and reading the echoes.[3]