Hidden Earth 2025

Greenland Caves Project 2023: Exploration of WUL-8, Wulff Land, North Greenland

30 minute Lecture|Gina Moseley

Abstract

The 2023 expedition of the Greenland Caves Project focused on the remote Wulff Land region of North Greenland, with the primary objective of exploring and documenting a large cave known as “WUL-8”. This cave, discovered (but not explored) during Cold War aerial reconnaissance, lies at 82 °N, within one of the northernmost karst areas on Earth.

After years of fundraising and logistical planning, a small the team set off to explore WUL-8 and other caves in July, 2023. After landing a helicopter on a plateau at c.900m and then abseiling several hundred metres down the cliff face, they successfully entered WUL-8, 65 years since it was first photographed. Over the next days, the team conducted exploration, documentation and sampling within the cave. Poor weather restricted the team to base camp on many days, but still, they returned having explored other caves within the region.

This presentation will provide an overview of the Northern Caves 2023 expedition logistics, as well as the exploration, documentation and the challenges experienced during the expedition.