Maps of the Arctic Basin Sea-floor; A history of bathymetry and its interpretation, Arctic 36

ABSTRACT. The history of oceanographic exploration of the Arctic Ocean basin from the beginning of this centur to the present is summarized. Soviet, U.S. and Canadian contributions after World War II are described in some detail including sounding methods and navigational techniques. The major bathy...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: J R Weber
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1983
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.546.8513
http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic36-2-121.pdf
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT. The history of oceanographic exploration of the Arctic Ocean basin from the beginning of this centur to the present is summarized. Soviet, U.S. and Canadian contributions after World War II are described in some detail including sounding methods and navigational techniques. The major bathymetric charts of the Arctic Ocean basin from 1954 on are discussed. Comparison of'the LOREX bathymetric map with other maps reveals that the Lomonosov Ridge is accurately positioned on early Soviet maps but is grossly in error on later U.S. and Canadian maps. It is shown that map makers relied too much on early U.S. submarine data (the only such data that were declassified) and that the latest General Bathymetric Map of the Oceans (GEBCO) is therefore suspect of being inaccurate in areas where publicly available sounding data are scant. Key words: Arctic Ocean basin, bathymetry, Lomonosov Ridge, LOREX RÉSUMÉ. Un resum6 de l'historique de l'exploration du bassin octanique arctique depuis le dCbut du sikcle est prtsentt. Les contributions sovitt-iques, amtricaines et canadiennes depuis la deuxitme guerre mondiale sont dtcrites avec quelques dttails incluant des mtthodes de sondage et des