| Abstract: | An extensive refraction profiling program was carried out during the FRAM II experiment (March–May, 1980) in the eastern Arctic Ocean. Two structural areas were covered: north of the ice camp (86°N, 24°W) into the basin of the Pole Abyssal Plain and south onto the flanks of the Morris Jesup Rise. Digital multichannel data on an 800 by 800 m, 24 channel hydrophone array and a single 2-component ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) were recorded for offsets from 2.5 to 100 km. Arrival times, amplitudes and phase velocities of the seismic signals recieved on the hydrophone array were determined using high resolution array processing. From these measurements and the OBS data, preliminary velocity structural models of the crust have been derived. For the purposes of this paper, 2 refraction lines have been analyzed, a 40 km line on a flat region of the Pole Abyssal Plain and an 86 km line on a slightly dipping region taken as the drifting ice camp shoaled on the Morris Jesup Rise. These preliminary analyses yield a sedimentary layer with a gradually increasing velocity 1.5–2 km thick. This cover overlays a crust with a thin layer 2 (< 1 km) and yields a total ocean bottom to mantle thickness of 4–7 km. |
