USGS CMG E-10-94/EW9410 - BS - Deep Seismic Investigation of the Continental Crust, Bering and Chukchi Seas, Alaska

STANFORD UNIVERSITY, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, AND WITH PARTICIPATION BY THE INSTITUTE OF THE LITHOSPHERE AND THE INSTITUTE OF OCEANOLOGY OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, AND THE GEODYNAMICS RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, CONDUCTED DEEP SEISMIC INVESTIGATIONS OF THE CONTINENTAL CRUST BENEATH THE BERING AND CHUKCHI SEAS, ALASKA, DURING THE MONTH OF AUGUST, 1994. THE DATA WAS RECORDED TO TWO-WAY TRAVEL-TIMES OF 15 TO 23 SECONDS, WITH 50 TO 75 METER SHOT SPACING. TWO NORTH-SOUTH TRANSECTS WERE PROFILED. THE EASTERN TRANSECT EXTENDED FROM 58(50'N, 169(32'W, WELL WITHIN THE CONTINENTAL SHELF OF THE BERING SEA, NORTH OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS, TO JUST SOUTH OF THE SHELF EDGE NORTH OF BARROW, ALASKA, AT 71(49'N, 154(33'W. ICE PREVENTED CONTINUATION OF THE LINE BEYOND THE SHELF EDGE. THE WESTERN TRANSECT EXTENDED FROM THE CENTRAL CHUKCHI SEA, WELL WITHIN THE SHELF AT 71(23'N, 163(00'W, INTO THE ALEUTIAN BASIN AT 58(00'N, 178(30'W, NEAR NAVARINSKY CANYON. AN ADDITIONAL SHORT LINE CROSSING OVER THE BERINGIAN MARGIN A SECOND TIME WAS RECORDED NEAR ZEMCHUG CANYON EAST OF THE WESTERN TRANSECT. THE PROFILES CROSS IMPORTANT STRIKE-SLIP FAULTS, POSSIBLE TERRANE BOUNDARIES, TWO CONTINENTAL MARGINS, AND SEVERAL CRETACEOUS /TERTIARY SEDIMENTARY BASINS (NORTON, HOPE, CHUKCHI, AND NAVARIN BASINS). TOGETHER WITH THE PRECEDING CRUISE EW94-09, THE PROFILES PROVIDE A CONTINUOUS TRANSECT ACROSS THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT, FROM THE PACIFIC TO THE ARCTIC OCEAN (SEE FIGURES 7 THROUGH 9 FOR DATA EXAMPLES). MOST OF THE MULTI-CHANNEL SEISMIC (MCS) DATA IS OF HIGH QUALITY, BUT BAD WEATHER, STRONG CURRENTS, AND RECORDING PROBLEMS SOMETIMES PRESENTED DIFFICULTIES DURING DATA ACQUISITION. GRAVITY, MAGNETIC, AND SONOBUOY DATA WERE ALSO RECORDED ALONG THE PROFILES. WIDE-ANGLE RECORDING WAS DONE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE SEISMIC PROFILING, AT RECORDING SITES LOCATED ALONG THE CENTRAL WEST COAST OF ALASKA AND THE CHUKCHI PENINSULA, AS WELL AS ON ISLANDS IN THE BERING STRAIT AND BERING SEA. Deposited content: descriptive metadata only; underlying research data are not included.