HR: 1340h
AN: T13D-0498    [Abstracts]
TI: Arctic Ocean Databases With a Dual Use: Geoscientific Investigations and the Delimitation of the Outer Continental Shelf
AU: * Macnab, R
EM: ron.macnab@ns.sympatico.ca
AF: Geological Survey of Canada (Retired), 11 Lyngby Avenue, Dartmouth, NS B3A 3T6 Canada
AU: Jakobsson, M
EM: martin.jakobsson@geo.su.se
AF: Department of Geology and Geochemistry, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 10691 Sweden
AU: Glebovsky, V
EM: gleb@vniio.nw.ru
AF: VNIIOkeangeologia, 1 Angliysky Avenue, St. Petersburg, 190121 Russian Federation
AU: Poselov, V
EM: vap@vniio.nw.ru
AF: VNIIOkeangeologia, 1 Angliysky Avenue, St. Petersburg, 190121 Russian Federation
AU: Kovacs, L
EM: skip@drix.net
AF: Naval Research Laboratory (Rretired), 4555 Overlook Avenue, Washington, DC 20375 United States
AB: For decades, a lack of information from the Arctic Ocean stymied investigators seeking to understand the geological framework and the tectonic history of the region. The reasons were environmental and political. Climate and permanent ice cover presented significant obstacles to mapping and sampling missions, while competing strategic interests militated against open research and the free exchange of information. The political dimension of this situation changed in the 1990s, and conditions in the Arctic Ocean are now more favourable to open research. Ice and climate still present obstacles, but in the form of technical challenges to be overcome through international collaboration. A clearer picture is emerging of major geological and tectonic characteristics, such as depth and shape of the seabed, thickness and distribution of underlying sediments, and variations in the gravity and magnetic fields. This information is complemented by a growing accumulation of bottom samples that shed light on the nature of sedimentary deposits on and beneath the seafloor. Where political considerations once constrained the acquisition and dissemination of data, they now promote cooperative activities to unlock the geological and tectonic secrets that remain. Article 76 of UNCLOS outlines the criteria and a methodology for qualified coastal states to project their sovereign rights beyond the usual EEZ limit. Based on the analysis and interpretation of bathymetric and geological information, these developments have prompted fresh efforts to enhance existing databases through the accumulation and assimilation of new observations. This presentation will review existing public geoscientific databases that describe the characteristics of the Arctic Ocean basin. It will also transcend the focused issues of Article 76 by discussing how the databases need to be amplified with complementary information in order to help answer a fundamental question that still baffles Arctic geoscientists, i.e. what is the early opening history of the Arctic Ocean?
DE: 3005 Marine magnetics and paleomagnetics (1550)
DE: 3010 Gravity and isostasy (1218, 1222)
DE: 3040 Plate tectonics (8150, 8155, 8157, 8158)
DE: 3045 Seafloor morphology, geology, and geophysics
DE: 9315 Arctic region (0718, 4207)
SC: Tectonophysics [T]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005