Collaborative Research: Geophysical Investigation of En Echelon Cracks along the Outer Shelf off Virginia/North Carolina - Implications for Slope Stability

在为期两周的地质/地球物理调查巡航期间，pi将使用深拖曳高分辨率垂直入射声纳系统详细研究弗吉尼亚和北卡罗来纳州外大陆架的梯队裂缝。这些特征及其地下几何形状的精确映射将有助于评估裂缝系统表明沿陆架边缘的初期边坡破坏的假设。这些数据，以及美国国家海洋和大气管理局发布的网格测深数据，将提供过去灾难性破坏的证据，并将使人们更好地了解这些裂缝在大规模浪费和随后的峡谷演变中的作用。

The PIs will study the enechelon cracks along the outer shelf of Virginia and North Carolina in detail during a two-week geological/geophysical survey cruise with a deep-towed high-resolution vertical-incidence sonar system. Accurate mapping of these features and their subsurface geometry will help evaluate the hypothesis that the crack system indicates nascent slope failure along the shelf edge. This data, as well as data released by NOAA on gridded bathymetry, will provide evidence of past catastrophic failure and will lead to a better understanding of the role of these cracks in mass wasting and subsequent canyon evolution.