Arctic Gravity and Bathymetric Data Acquisition Over the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge and the Lomonosov Ridge

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Abstract 9623170 Coakley Funds are requested to cover the costs of gravity and bathymetry data acquisition in the Arctic Ocean for a study of the Arctic Mid Ocean Ridge (AMOR) and the adjacent sliver of continental crust, the Lomonosov Ridge. In concert with the physical oceanographic program, we would like to collect additional long bathymetric and gravity anomaly profiles across the combined Lomonosov Ridge and AMOR. This data, combined with the collected on previous submarine science cruises, will permit the construction of regional scale maps across much of the basin within the operational area. The advance of plate tectonics into the Arctic Ocean basin has reached only to the Lomonosov Ridge. The Arctic Mid Ocean Ridge is the northern extension of the Mid Atlantic Ridge. It is perhaps the slowest spreading ridge on earth. Propagation of the AMOR into the Arctic Ocean separated the Lomonosov Ridge from the northern edge of Eurasia beginning at about 58Ma. This separation has continued up until the present time. Maps produced during this study will be used to define transverse structures in the ridge (the geometry of half graben bounding faults and transfer zones) and the morphology of the AMOR. The regional lines will also be useful for studies of isostatic compensation of both the Lomonosov Ridge and the AMOR as well as defining he transition from the Lomonosov Ridge to the adjacent enigmatic Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge.