Collaborative Research: Mapping magnetic anomalies in the Cretaceous "Quiet" Zone using a new airborne autonomous vehicle

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The proposed study will conduct several magnetic lines across the Cretaceous Quiet Zone (KQZ) seafloor in the south Pacific between Samoa and New Zealand. Magnetic data will be collected by a ship and with an autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) will be launched and recovered from the ship to cover a swath of magnetic lines. The objective is to collect closely spaced magnetic tracks that will show correlatable magnetic anomalies within the KQZ. The ship's magnetic gradiometer will allow external field variations to be quantified and removed from the data. Vector magnetic data will also be collected to define the three-dimensionality of the magnetic anomalies. The data will allow the determination of the nature of the magnetic anomalies in the KQZ and reveal more about magnetic field behavior and/or crustal accretion processes. Broader impacts include the potential of clarification of a long-standing issue concerning the higher resolution details of the Cretaceous Magnetic Quiet Zone. Graduate students will be involved at both institutions.