Mysteries in the Atlantic
Dr. Chris MacLeod
Marine geologist Dr Chris MacLeod, School of Earth, Ocean and Planetary Sciences said: "This discovery is like an open wound on the surface of the Earth. Was the crust never there? Was it once there but then torn away on huge geological faults? If so, then how and why?"
To answer some of these questions Dr MacLeod with a team of scientists, led by marine geophysicist Professor Roger Searle, Durham University, will travel to the area which lies mid-way between the Cape Verde Islands and the Caribbean.
The expedition will be the inaugural research cruise of a new UK research ship RRS James Cook. The team intends to use sonars to image the seafloor and then take rock cores using a robotic seabed drill. The samples will provide a rare opportunity to gain insights into the workings of the mantle deep below the surface of the Earth.
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Progress of the cruise can be monitored via a live web link to the ship: www.noc.soton.ac.uk/gg/classroom@sea/JC007/
The public, and especially school children, are encouraged to ask questions of the scientists on board during the expedition via the on-line e-mail link.
Contact: Dr. Chris MacLeod
macleod@cardiff.ac.uk
44-292-087-4332
Cardiff University