Collaborative Research: Improved Instrumentation for Arctic Submarine-based Geophysical Surveys

这项工作是开发一种改进的地球物理仪器包，用于美国海军核动力潜艇在北冰洋科学巡航期间使用。作者计划一个集成的数据采集系统，该系统将扩展现有的仪器套件，包括一个深度成像系统，一个“啁啾”型低频探底声纳和一个集成的数据记录和质量控制计算机系统。该潜艇配备了专门改装的仪器，是在北极高海拔地区进行海洋地球物理调查的唯一平台。拟议的12千赫测深成像系统将从海底获取共同注册的测深数据和20公里宽的后向散射数据。在有利的条件下，“啁啾”声呐的数据将定义海底以下至少100米以上沉积物的声学地层学。两个声纳的换能器将安装在潜艇下方固定的一个吊舱中。在整个北冰洋深处收集的后向散射、测深、“啁啾”剖面和重力异常数据，不仅将为解决北极构造的一些棘手问题提供基础，还将为规划未来的取心、疏浚或深海钻探提供必要的数据库。该仪器包将充分利用海军慷慨提供的机会，为1999年的年度潜艇巡航提供业务支持。关键的设计目标包括：收集高质量的数据，码头安装（即没有干坞），以适度的努力和成本进行船到船的转移；以及从冰冠层得到的回报的最小化。拟议的开发、集成和测试工作是一项复杂的工作，需要参与组织、用户社区和潜艇舰队之间的协调。这些潜艇巡航将是唯一的机会，系统地收集这些数据与一套优化的仪器在整个海洋盆地。这一组合数据包括带状测深和后向散射成像、重力异常数据、海底穿透啁啾声呐以及可能的磁力计数据，将提供北冰洋主要盆地的形态、近期沉积学、浅层地层学和深部结构的完整地球物理特征。该数据集将彻底改变我们对北冰洋及其周围大陆构造历史的理解，并为其他学科和未来对这个鲜为人知的地区的科学探索提供必要的信息。

This work is to develop an improved geophysical instrument package for use on US Navy nuclear-powered submarines during science cruises to the Arctic Ocean. The authors plan an integrated data acquisition system that would expand the current instrument suite to include a swath-bathymetric imaging system, a "chirp"-type low frequency bottom penetrating sonar and an integrated data logging and quality control computer system. With specifically adapted instrumentation the submarine is the only platform for underway marine geophysical surveys in the high Arctic. The proposed 12 kHz bathymetric imaging system will acquire co-registered bathymetry and backscatter from the seafloor across a swath up to 20 km wide. Data from the "chirp" sonar will, under favorable conditions, define the acoustic stratigraphy of at least the upper 100 m sediment below the seafloor. Transducers for both sonars will be housed in a single, pod secured beneath the submarine. The combined backscatter, bathymetry, "chirp" profiles and gravity anomaly data collected over the entire deep Arctic Ocean will not only provide the basis for solving some of the vexing problems of Arctic tectonics, it will also provide an essential database for planning future coring, dredging or deep sea drilling. This instrument package will make the most of the opportunity generously offered by Navy of operational support for annual submarine cruises through 1999. Critical design goals include: collection of high quality data, dockside installation (i.e. without dry-docking), boat to boat transfer with modest effort and cost; and minimization of returns from the ice canopy. The proposed development, integration and testing effort is a complex undertaking, requiring coordination between participating organizations, user community and the submarine fleet. These submarine cruises will be the only opportunity to systematically collect this data with a set of optimized instruments over the entire ocean basin. The combined suite of swath bathymetry and backscatter imagery, gravity anomaly data, bottom penetrating chirp sonar and possibly magnetometer data will provide a complete geophysical characterization of the morphology, recent sedimentology, shallow stratigraphy and deep structure of the major Arctic Ocean basins. This dataset will revolutionize our understanding of the tectonic history of the Arctic Ocean and the surrounding continents and provide essential information for other disciplines and future scientific exploration of this poorly known region.