Seismic reflection and refraction surveys of Weddell Sea (Antarctica), 1987/1989/1992/1995 (projects ANT-VI/3, ANT-VIII/5, ANT-X/2, ANT-XII/2)

The aims of the seismic reflection and refraction surveys in the Weddell Sea are: a) to develop a model on the break-up of this part of Gondwana, b) to map the ocean-continent boundary, c) to develop an idea about the evolution of the area since the break-up of Gondwana, d) to map the sediment distribution and the seismostratigraphy of the region in order to reconstruct major oceanic current systems. Shot interval varies between 25 m and 30 m for the seismic reflection and 75 m and 150 m for the seismic refraction data.

Since the data have been collected over a long period of time, they are in various stages of processing up to migration. The following instruments were used: 800 and 3000 m long streamer(24 and 96 channel), 6,24 l airgun arrays, 3 l GI gun, 32 l airgun, 6-channel Reftek stations with 3-component seismometer and geophone arrays. The geographical coverage is as follows: about 10000 km of seismic reflection and about 1500 km of seismic refraction data have been collected in the Weddel Sea, Antarctica.