Preliminaly report of the TH96 geological and geophysical survey results in Bransfield Strait and its vicinity

• Main Authors: Tanahashi,Manabu, Matsuyama,Takashi, Tokuhashi,Shuichi, Oda,Hirokuni
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Technology Research Center, Japan National Oil Corporation/Technology Research Center, Japan National Oil Corporation/Geological Survey of Japan/Geological Survey of Japan 1998
• Subjects: Pacific Margin of northern Antarctic Peninsula; Bransfield Strait; marine geological and geophysical surveys; sedimentary sequences; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Austral; Pacific; Antarc*; British Antarctic Survey; Polar geoscience
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=3021; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00003021/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=3021&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

Geophysical and geological surveys of the JNOC TH96 cruise on the R/V HAKUREI-MARU, in the Pacific margin of the northern Antarctic Peninsula, were carried out in the 1996-97 austral summer season. The early and later halves of the cruise were devoted to a continental margin survey of the western and northern margins of the northern Antarctic Peninsula, respectively. The seismic data are interpreted together with the data which were aquired in this area during JNOC TH80, 88 and PetroBras and British Antarctic Survey cruises. The geophysical data in the southwestern margin show typical passive continental margin character with abyssal plain-continental slope-continental shelf from sea to land. The thickness of the sedimentary sequence in the abyssal plain is about 3 s (twt). The development of the continental rise between abyssal plain and continental slope is very poor, compared with more mature passive continental margins. The area north of the Antarctic Peninsula is interpreted as the triple junction area among the Antarctic-Scotia-(former) Phoenix plates. The seismic data in the area show distributed highly deformed sedimentary basins and volcanic features. The deformation trend is interpreted to be controlled by the regional trend of simstral trans-tensional movement between the Antarctic and Scotia plates.