Start Date: September 1, 2005
Expires: August 31, 2006 (Estimated)

Abstract
Sabine Bank, a shoal located in the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, is postulated to be a coral reef that preserves a rare record of sea level fall during marine isotopic stages 2 through 5. This project will take advantage of a ship of opportunity to acquire high-resolution boomer images and deep-towed Chirp images on lines spaced at ~0.1 km on the Sabine Bank. The data will be used to identify and map reef accumulations on the feature as a site survey task for possible eventual drilling of this relatively rare fossil reef system under the auspices of an IODP project. Broader impacts of the research include providing a non-paleoceanographic indicator of global climate change and strengthening collaboration with a French research team.

Subduction arc trajectory of Bougainville Guyot and Sabine Bank, approaching the New Hebrides Trench at ~40 mm/yr.  At the crest of the arc, Sabine Bank was likely emergent, perhaps for ~1 m.y.  As the Bank submerged into the photic zone, we expect MIS 2-5 reefs to have developed on the Bank top.  We anticipate that high-resolution seismic imaging, using USF-owned deep-towed seismic systems deployed from the French research ship Alis, will be able to identify these reefs and map their thickness and lateral extent, in preparation for development of an IODP proposal to sample them.