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Canada's mapping of the Arctic is pushing into territory claimed by Russia in the high-stakes drive by countries to establish clear title to the polar region and its seabed riches.

Survey flights Ottawa conducted in late winter and early spring went beyond the North Pole and into an area where Russia has staked claims, a Department of Natural Resources official said Sunday.

Arctic security experts say this foray demonstrates Canada is refusing to back down from Russia's increasingly assertive behaviour in the North.

“It shows we're going to the maximum of what we scientifically can claim,” Rob Huebert, associate director of the University of Calgary's Centre for Military and Strategic Studies, said.

“It clearly indicates Canada is making good on its pledge not to be intimidated in the High Arctic.”

Prof. Huebert said the past-the-Pole surveying also explains the forcefulness of statements in recent months from the Harper government, which has been particularly vociferous on Arctic sovereignty.

“It was basically just setting the stage” for this, he said.

In March, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon warned Russia that Canada “would not be bullied” into ceding sovereignty in the North after reports that Moscow had created a military force dedicated to defend Arctic claims.

In February, Prime Minister Stephen Harper rebuked Russia for military training flights that skirt Canadian airspace, decrying what he called “Russian intrusions” and vowing to “respond every time the Russians make any kind of intrusion on the sovereignty of Canada's Arctic.”

Canada's airborne surveys – aerogravity readings of undersea formations and ridges in the High Arctic – took place between mid-March and late April this year.

They're a necessary preliminary step if Canada wants to gather evidence for a claim that extends beyond the North Pole into Russian territory. Moscow claimed territory up to the North Pole in its 2001 submission under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, but was told by adjudicators to gather more evidence.

Canada is also amassing data to build its claim, which must be submitted by 2013.

Canadian scientists contend that the underwater Lomonosov Ridge is an extension of the North American continental shelf. Ottawa hopes to use this to establish title to adjacent seabed territory under the UN process that will adjudicate claims.

Jacob Verhoef, a Geological Survey of Canada official who's leading Canada's efforts to support its claim, said the survey flights provide a “quick reconnaissance” on what lies beneath Arctic waters.

“We did go into areas that Russia had in its original submission,” Mr. Verhoef said.

“This gives us an indication whether the Lomonosov Ridge continues up to the Pole or a little beyond that.”

He said it would take up to half a year to analyze the data collected by the aerial survey, which will tell scientists where they should focus their efforts for more extensive and detailed mapping that will be carried out by icebreaker.

If Canada eventually files a claim that extends past the North Pole, it could find itself in conflict with Russia.

Moscow is expected to update its 2001 claim with new scientific evidence, but it's not anticipated the Russians will back away from earlier efforts to stake out territory right up to the North Pole. In 2007, a Russian submarine drove this point home when it dropped a titanium Russian flag on the seabed at the North Pole.

Canada and Russia have both committed to a peaceful resolution of conflicts over claims submitted under the international process, a pledge Prof. Huebert said will be put to the test if Ottawa and Moscow submit overlapping stakes.

It is estimated that a quarter of the world's undiscovered oil and gas lies under the Arctic.