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

拟议的研究将在南太平洋萨摩亚和新西兰之间的白垩纪静默区海底进行几条磁力线。磁性数据将由一艘船收集，并将与自动飞行器(AAV)一起发射并从船上回收，以覆盖一条磁力线。目标是收集近距离的磁迹，这些磁迹将显示KQZ内的相关磁异常。这艘船的磁梯度计将允许外部磁场变化被量化并从数据中删除。还将收集矢量磁数据，以确定磁异常的三维程度。这些数据将能够确定KQZ中磁异常的性质，并揭示更多关于磁场行为和/或地壳吸积过程的信息。更广泛的影响包括可能澄清一个长期存在的问题，该问题涉及白垩纪磁性宁静区的更高分辨率细节。这两所大学的研究生都将参与其中。

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.