Other ID: LSSL2011
Status: Completed
Organization(s): USGS, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Funding Program(s): Law of the Sea - Outer Limits of the US Continental Margins (LQ000FQ)
Principal Investigator(s): Deborah Hutchinson
Affiliate Investigator(s): David Mosher GSC Chief Scientist
Information Specialist(s): Deborah Hutchinson
Data Type(s): Electro-Magnetic: Gravity, Location-Elevation: Navigation, Seismics: Multichannel, Sonar: Single Beam
Scientific Purpose/Goals: To determine the extent of the Extended Continental Shelf in the Arctic Ocean collaboratively with Canada.
Vehicle(s):
Start Port/Location: Kugluktuk, Nunavut, Canada
End Port/Location: Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada
Start Date: 2011-08-18
End Date: 2011-09-29
Equipment Used: Multichannel seismics, Echosounder, Bell Aerospace BGM-3 gravimeter, GPS (wh), Trimble 4000AX GPS receiver
Information to be Derived: sediment velocity, sediment thickness, seismic stratigraphy, tectonic boundaries,
Summary of Activity and Data Gathered: The principal objectives of the 2011 Canadian High Arctic Seismic Expedition were to acquire multichannel seismic reflection, refraction, and bathymetric data along positions that serve to establish sediment thickness, structural and morphologic criteria along Canadian and US western Arctic continental margins. Strategic ship track lines were established to complement existing data to meet UNCLOS Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) sediment thickness, bathymetric and scientific objectives. In addition, the first Autonomous Underwater Vehicle deployment from an icebreaker in the high Arctic was achieved, permitting acquisition of additional bathymetric data in areas of perennial sea ice cover. Ancillary programs included ice observations to groundtruth remotely sensed data, physical oceanographic data were acquired on an opportunistic basis and an Environment Canada O-buoy was deployed. 1437 line-km of high quality multichannel seismic reflection data were acquired in addition to seismic refraction data recorded from 21 sonobuoy deployments. 7848 line-km of single beam bathymetry, subbottom profiler and shipborne gravity data were obtained from the Louis S. St-Laurent over the course of the entire mission, plus 75 helicopter spot soundings. 110 km of bathymetric data were acquired by the AUV and in excess of 4500 line-km of multibeam bathymetric data were acquired from the USCGC Healy.
Staff:
Affiliate Staff:
Geological Survey of Canada
Canadian Hydrographic Service
DRDC Atlantic
Notes: USGS participation is part of an MOU between the USGS and GSC; Data release is covered by the agreement between USGS and GSC.
Project = Law of the Sea,
Location:
Arctic Ocean
| Boundaries | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| North: 88.3 | South: 67 | West: 111 | East: 179.9 |
Platform(s):
 Louis S St Laurent |
Hutchinson, D., Houseknecht, D., Mosher, D., Hart, P., Jackson, R., Lebedeva-Ivanova, N., Shimeld, J., and Chian, D., The Chukchi Borderland: a sediment-starved rifted continental margin [abs.]: , 2013 Fall AGU Meeting. San Francisco,CA, December 9-13, 2013.
Hutchinson, D.R., Houseknecht, D.W., and Mosher, D.C., 2023, Canada Basin tectono-sedimentary element, Arctic Ocean: Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 57, https://doi.org/10.1144/M57-2022-49.
Lebedeva-Ivanova, N., Hutchinson, D.R., Shimeld, J., Brumley, K., Chian, D., Hart, P., Mosher, D., and Jackson, R., Inferred Mesozoic Origin of the Nautilus Basin, Arctic Ocean [abs.]: , 3P Arctic â The Polar Petroleum Potential Conference and Exhibition. Stavanger, Norway, 15-18 October, 2013.
Mosher, D.C., Shimeld, J. Hutchinson, D., Jackson, R., Chian, D., Lebedeva-Ivanova, N., Oakey, G., Evangelatos, J., Li, Q., Funck, T., Mayer, L., Verhoef, J., and Forbes, S, 2012, Re-evaluating Amerasian Basin tectonics and sedimentation with new geophysical data: , 34th IGC Conference. Brisbane, Australia, August 5-10 2012.
Mosher, D.C., Shimeld, J., Hutchinson, D., Chian, D., Lebedeva-Ivanova, N., Jackson, R., 2012, Canada Basin Revealed: , Arctic Technology Conference. December 3-5, 2012, Houston, TX doi: 10.4043/23797-MS.
Shimeld, J., Li, Q., Chian, D., Lebedeva-Ivanova, N., Jackson, R., Mosher, D., and Hutchinson, D., 2015, Seismic velocities within the sedimentary succession of the Canada Basin and southern Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge, Arctic Ocean—Evidence for accelerated porosity reduction?: Geophysical Journal International, v. 204, issue 1, p.1-20, https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggv416.
| Survey Equipment | Survey Info | Data Type(s) | Data Collected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multichannel seismics | --- | Multichannel | |
| Echosounder | --- | Single Beam | |
| Bell Aerospace BGM-3 gravimeter | --- | Gravity | |
| GPS (wh) | --- | Navigation | |
| Trimble 4000AX GPS receiver | --- | Navigation |
