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

拟议的研究将在萨摩亚和新西兰之间的南太平洋白垩纪安静区（KQZ）海底进行几条磁力线。磁数据将由一艘船收集，一架自动飞行器（AAV）将从船上发射和回收，以覆盖一大片磁力线。目的是收集紧密间隔的磁迹，以显示KQZ内相关的磁异常。船上的磁梯度仪将允许外部磁场变化被量化并从数据中去除。还将收集矢量磁数据，以确定磁异常的三维性。这些数据将使我们能够确定KQZ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，即白垩纪磁平静带的高分辨率细节。研究生将参与这两个机构。

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.