AFI 02/36_03 - Geochemical Tracing of Pacific-to-Atlantic Mantle Flow through the Drake Passage/Scotia Sea Gateway - Swath Bathymetry conducted in the Scotia Sea, February and March 2004

The target area was along the eastern segments of the West Scotia Ridge, an ocean spreading centre which stopped spreading about 10 million years ago. The spreading centre has high topographic relief and contains an axial rift, which has flanks that are suitable for dredging. The fieldwork involved mapping the spreading centre using swath bathymetry, and then using this information to locate the best dredging sites. This meant successfully imaging a significant area of hitherto unsurveyed oceanic crust and recovering rocks at 13 dredge sites. The new bathymetric maps add considerably to knowledge of the West Scotia Ridge.