Research Objectives:
Well-constrained plate reconstructions of the circum-antarctic region are critical for examining a number of problems of global geophysical importance. This project seeks to improve reconstructions of the antarctic and surrounding plates by surveying gravity, magnetics, and swath bathymetry on transit cruises of geological importance covering areas where data are lacking.
On cruise NBP 04-06 in the Indian Ocean and the Tasman Sea, project team members will survey several major features of the Africa and Australia plates that relate to their history of spreading away from the Antarctic plate. These include fracture zones, part of the Broken Ridge and Diamantina fracture zone southeast of Australia, and Cenozoic magnetic anomalies formed by the spreading of the Capricorn and Australia plates away from Antarctica.
On NBP 05-01 during the transit from McMurdo Station to Punta Arenas at the southern tip of South America, project team members will survey several major features of the Antarctic plate. These include fracture zones, the fossil spreading system in the Adare Basin, and Cenozoic magnetic anomalies formed by the spreading of the Australia plate away from west Antarctica.
