CAGE21-3 Cruise Report: Ocean bottom seismics and acoustic surveys on the West-Svalbard margin – a study of local seismicity and its effect on methane seepage

• Published in: CAGE – Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate Report Series
• Main Authors: Plaza-Faverola, Andreia, Schlindwein, Vera, Domel, Przemyslaw, Schmidt-Aursch, Mechita, Cooke, Frances Ann, Holm, Truls, Jensen, Stormer A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Septentrio Academic Publishing 2022
• Subjects: fluid Flow; Vestnesa Basin; tectonics; OBS; acoustics; Arctic; Barents Sea; Hanssen; Knipovich Ridge; Molloy; Svalbard; arctic methane; Fram Strait; Ice Sheet; Sea ice; Svalbard margin; Svalbard-Barents Sea Ice sheet
• Online Access: https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/cage/article/view/6722; https://doi.org/10.7557/cage.6722

Cruise CAGE21-3 with UiT’s research vessel R/V Helmer Hanssen was carried out to address the following objectives within the SEAMSTRESS project (Tectonic stress effects on Arctic methane seepage):1- Recovery of 10 Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS) deployed last year north of the Knipovich Ridge-Molloy Transform Fault corner (see report CAGE20-5).2- Conduction of an active source OBS experiment for the study of shear waves propagation in relation to local stress field and focused fluid flow.3- Acquisition of seismic lines for completing a side survey for the FRAME-IODP proposal.In 2020, 10 ocean-bottom seismometers (OBS) were deployed at the northern termination of the Knipovich Ridge to monitor seismic activity. The aim is to detect regional and local earthquakes. If localearthquakes are captured we will investigate the stress field in the region and how faults and fluids react to such stress (Figure 1). From the 10 instruments 8 are from Awi and 2 from UiT. IODP proposal 985 Eastern Fram Strait Palaeo-archive (FRAME) proposed to drill five sites on the western Svalbard margin in order to study chronostratigraphy, palaeoceanography, the palaeoclimatic evolution, and the forcing mechanisms responsible for main climatic transitions and the dynamics of the Svalbard Barents Sea Ice Sheet complex. This cruise acquired additional site survey seismic data for proposed primary and alternate drill sites. The cruise may be known as: CAGE21_3