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

这项工作是为了开发一种改进的地球物理仪器包，供美国海军核动力潜艇在北冰洋科学巡航期间使用。作者计划建立一个综合数据采集系统，对现有仪器进行扩展，使之包括一个小水线带测深成像系统、一个“线性调频”型低频探底声纳和一个综合数据记录和质量控制计算机系统。该潜水艇配备了专门改装的仪器，是在北极高地进行海洋地球物理调查的唯一平台。拟议的12千赫水深成像系统将获得共同登记的水深测量和来自海底的后向散射，横跨20公里宽的狭长条带。在有利条件下，来自“啁啾”声纳的数据将确定至少海底以下100米以上沉积物的声学地层学。两个声纳的换能器将被安置在一个固定在潜艇下方的吊舱中。在整个北冰洋深处收集的综合后向散射、水深测量、“chirp”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。这套仪器将最大限度地利用海军慷慨提供的机会，为到1999年的年度潜艇巡航提供作战支持。关键的设计目标包括：高质量数据的收集、码头安装(即不使用干船坞)、以最小的努力和成本实现船对船的转移，以及最大限度地减少冰盖的回报。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。这些潜艇巡航将是利用一套优化的仪器在整个大洋盆地系统收集这些数据的唯一机会。小水线带测深和后向散射图像、重力异常数据、穿底声波声纳以及可能的磁强计数据的组合将提供主要北冰洋盆地的形态、近期沉积学、浅层地层学和深部结构的完整地球物理特征。这一数据集将彻底改变我们对北冰洋和周围大陆构造历史的理解，并为其他学科和未来对这一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.