An experiment whose objectives were to study the hydrography and circulation of the Iceland Basin and to study the temporal and spatial variability of the flows across the Greenland–Scotland Ridge. The ship observations in support of NANSEN were collected from 1986 to 1989. It consisted of a series of loosely connected research cruises conducted by different nations and laboratories in the area of interest, with the planning and execution of the program also seen as a pre–WOCE phase in the eastern North Atlantic. The main topics addressed by NANSEN were:

the origin and characteristics of the upper ocean water masses feeding the Norwegian Sea;

the characteristics and fate of the outflowing cold water in the North Atlantic; and

pathways and variations of the inflows and outflows.