Geology and Geophysics Program Summary for FY 90

• Other Authors: LAMONT-DOHERTY GEOLOGICAL OBSERVATORY PALISADES NY
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1991
• Subjects: Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; *OCEAN BOTTOM TOPOGRAPHY; OCEAN CURRENTS; GEOLOGY; SONAR; TECTONICS; MAGMA; VOLCANISM; SEDIMENTATION; ACOUSTIC DATA; EROSION; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Greenland; Greenland Sea; Ice Shelves; Iceberg*; Sea ice; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA266601; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA266601

The high-latitude northern Norwegian-Greenland Sea and the adjacent part of the Arctic Ocean north of Spitsbergen comprise an unequaled natural laboratory for the study of several important processes involving the generation and/or modification of sea-floor topography, subbottom structure, and material properties. These processes, active now or in the geologically recent past, include (1) tectonism (faulting), volcanism, magma intrusion into rift valley seafloor sediments;(2) erosion and redeposition of sediment by bottom currents; (3) slumping and other downslope processes on glaciated margins; (4) sedimentation from sea ice/icebergs/ice sheets, at water depths less than 100- 500 m, (5) erosion and redeposition by icebergs and grounded ice shelves/sheets. SeaMarc II is the ideal tool for investigating the results of these processes, e.g. the present bathymetric and back-scatter characteristics of the seafloor. The investigation area is probably unique in terms of diversity of processes which can be examined in a relatively small region