Roundabout Expedition Leg 11


KGWU 182300Z Dec 88 Weekly Report week ending December 18, 1988: Arrived in
Majuro December 13 after a transit from "Valtier" Guyot near Majuro. Our stay in
Majuro included a well-attended reception on the dock alongside the ship for the
President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and other officials, educators
and business people. We conducted guided tours of the ship for 100 local high
school and college science students and gave a lecture at the college. The new
Republic faces formidable problems, and is eager to have some its students take
up appropriate technical/scientific careers. We left Majuro December 17 to begin
leg 11 of Roundabout Expedition with Co-PI's Larry Mayer (Dalhousie) and Tom
Shipley (UT Austin). Now en route to eastern slopes of Ontong Java Plateau, to
study details of seismic stratigraphy across classical carbonate dissolution
profile, in preparation for drilling by Joides Resolution. (Jerry Winterer)


KGWU Thomas Washington CK 160 300615Z December ‘88 Completed seismic surveys of
east slopes of Ontong Java Plateau, and identified suitable sites for planned
drilling by Joides Resolution.  Our data, taken with older data from other parts
of Plateau suggest that central summit area of plateau, known to be underlain by
mid-cretaceous mid-plate flood basalt, with Moho at about 40km depth, is
surrounded by flexural arch that may bring older normal Jurassic oceanic crust
to surface around the plateau flanks.  In surrounding basins, such as Nauru
Basin to east of plateau, cretaceous mid-plate flood basalt masks Jurassic
crust.  Surveyed area on rise in Nauru Basin with optimal conditions for
correlating and extending our central equatorial seismic stratigraphy to the
western pacific.  Used the unexpected 2 hours of steaming time on way to Majuro
to survey new guyot east of Ebon Island.  Leg 11 deemed a success by all
scientific party.  We were helped enormously by Captain Arsenault and his
officers and crew.  Jerry Winterer