Korean Antarctic Marine Geophysical Surveys

Abstract

Under the framework of Korean Antarctic Research Program (KARP), marine geophysical surveys have been carried out since 1993 around the Antarctic Peninsular where King Sejong station, a Korean Antarctic station, locates. The main topics of Korean marine geophysical surveys are to study tectonic evolution and to examine geological structures around the Antarctic Peninsula. The surveys include multichannel and single-channel seismic, magnetic, multibeam survey and autonomous underwater hydroacoustic monitoring. The study areas covered the South Shetland continental margin, Bransfield Strait, Pacific margin of Antarctic Peninsula, parts of Powell Basin and Drake Passage. Recently we deployed autonomous underwater hydrophones to detect submarine micro-earthquakes in Bransfield Strait in collaboration with US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It should give us a new insight to ongoing Bransfield Strait extension. Our new icebreaker will be commissioned in 2009 and the second Korean Antarctic station will be constructed in Antarctica by 2012. We are expecting to acquire more elaborated marine geophysical data and to widen our survey area in Antarctica.