Marine researchers Ursula Röhl and Alex Wülbers are investigating what the ocean floor has to tell us about the climate in the past. In this report they tell about a challenging expedition to the Arctic.There, where the once supposedly “eternal ice cap“ has begun to disappear, drillings are now being carried out deep into the sea bed.The cores of sediment from the ocean floor provide fascinating data that could help predict future climate change. Deep sea exploration is viewed by marine scientists as one of the greatest scientific challenges of the future. This gigantic area covers two thirds of the earth’s surface and is an unfamiliar world full of bizarre geological structures and exotic creatures. A mere one percent of this habitat has been explored to date.