Principal Investigator: Gail Christeson
Co-Principal Investigators: Kirk McIntosh and Yosio Nakamura.

Funding agency: NSF OCE, award # 0137286
Start Date: July 1, 2002
Expires: June 30, 2005 (Estimated)

This project examines two geographic areas, Hess Deep and the Blanco Transform areas. Christeson, McIntosh and Yosio Nakamura led the cruise to Hess Deep in July 2003.

Abstract
The study will focus on an important problem concerning the oceanic crustal structure, i.e., the extent to which seismic boundaries within the crust correlate with geological boundaries. It aims to link the seismic structure of upper oceanic crust with the known geology of the crust exposed at Hess Deep and the Blanco Transform areas. The PIs hope that the experiment will clarify the relationship between the seismic boundaries and the geologic units of oceanic crust. Two separate cruises will be undertaken to conduct refraction profiling with wide-angle MCS lines allowing high-resolution imgaging of the uppermost crust.