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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1991. Opportunities and Priorities in Arctic Geoscience. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1842.
×

Opportunities and Priorities in ARCTIC GEOSCIENCE

Committee on Arctic Solid-Earth Geosciences

Polar Research Board

Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources

National Research Council

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.
1991

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1991. Opportunities and Priorities in Arctic Geoscience. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1842.
×

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is President of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Samuel O. Thier is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

Support for this project was provided jointly by the Department of the Interior/U.S. Geological Survey, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Arthur Day Fund.

Cover: “Passage Through the Ice, June 16, 1818,” as drawn by Capt. John Ross, British Royal Navy, during a voyage of discovery for the purposes of exploring Baffin’s Bay and inquiring into the probability of a North-West Passage. Published by John Murray, Albemarle Street, London, 1819. (Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.)

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1991. Opportunities and Priorities in Arctic Geoscience. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1842.
×

COMMITTEE ON ARCTIC SOLID-EARTH GEOSCIENCES

ARTHUR GRANTZ,

U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park,

Chairman

DAVID A. G. FORSYTH,

Geological Survey of Canada

KAZUYA FUJITA,

Michigan State University, East Lansing

ARTHUR R. GREEN,

Exxon Production Research Company, Houston

KENNETH HUNKINS,

Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory

G. LEONARD JOHNSON,

Office of Naval Research

YNGVE KRISTOFFERSEN,

University of Bergen, Norway

E. FRED ROOTS,

Department of the Environment, Ottawa

DAVID B. STONE,

University of Alaska, Fairbanks

JÖRN THIEDE,

Christian-Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany

Other Contributors

JULIE BRIGHAM-GRETTE,

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

D. E. BROWNLEE,

University of Washington, Seattle

DAVID L. CLARK,

University of Wisconsin, Madison

DAVID M. HOPKINS,

University of Alaska, Fairbanks

GLENN A. JONES,

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

MARCUS G. LANGSETH,

Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory

LOUIE N. MARINCOVICH,

U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park

CAPT. ROBERT G. MOORE, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)

R. L. PHILLIPS,

U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park

ERK REIMNITZ,

U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park

ROBERT A. SPICER,

Oxford University, United Kingdom

PATRICK T. TAYLOR,

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Project Staff

SHERBURNE B. ABBOTT, Staff Director

MARIANN S. PLATT, Administrative Secretary

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1991. Opportunities and Priorities in Arctic Geoscience. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1842.
×

POLAR RESEARCH BOARD

ROBERT H. RUTFORD,

University of Texas at Dallas,

Chairman

RITA R. COLWELL,

Maryland Biotechnology Institute, University of Maryland,

Vice Chair

NORBERT UNTERSTEINER,

University of Washington, Seattle,

Vice Chair

ROGER G. BARRY, CIRES,

University of Colorado, Boulder

EDDY C. CARMACK,

Department of Fisheries & Oceans, Sidney, Canada

F. STUART CHAPIN, III,

University of California at Berkeley

IAN W. D. DALZIEL,

University of Texas at Austin

PAUL K. DAYTON,

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

INEZ Y. FUNG,

Goddard Institute of Space Studies

JOHN E. HOBBIE,

Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole

JOHN L. LABRECQUE,

Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory

MARK F. MEIER, INSTAAR,

University of Colorado, Boulder

JOHN P. MIDDAUGH,

Alaska Department of Health and Social Services

THEODORE J. ROSENBERG,

University of Maryland, College Park

DONALD B. SINIFF,

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

SUSAN SOLOMON,

NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, Boulder

WILFORD F. WEEKS,

University of Alaska, Fairbanks

ORAN R. YOUNG,

Dartmouth College

Ex-Officio Members

CHARLES R. BENTLEY,

University of Wisconsin, Madison

JEFF DOZIER,

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

TED S. VINSON,

Oregon State University, Corvallis

Staff

SHERBURNE B. ABBOTT, Staff Director

MARIANN S. PLATT, Administrative Secretary

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1991. Opportunities and Priorities in Arctic Geoscience. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1842.
×

COMMISSION ON GEOSCIENCES, ENVIRONMENT, AND RESOURCES

M. GORDON WOLMAN,

The Johns Hopkins University,

Chairman

ROBERT C. BEARDSLEY,

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

B. CLARK BURCHFIEL,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

RALPH I. CICERONE,

University of California at Irvine

PETER S. EAGLESON,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

HELEN M. INGRAM,

University of Arizona

GENE E. LIKENS,

New York Botanical Garden

SYUKURO MANABE,

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

JACK E. OLIVER,

Cornell University

PHILIP A. PALMER,

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company

FRANK L. PARKER,

Vanderbilt University

DUNCAN T. PATTEN,

Arizona State University

MAXINE L. SAVITZ,

Allied Signal Aerospace Company

LARRY L. SMARR,

National Center for Supercomputing Applications

STEVEN M. STANLEY,

Case Western Reserve University

SIR CRISPIN TICKELL,

UK Representative to the United Nations

KARL K. TUREKIAN,

Yale University

IRVIN L. WHITE,

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

JAMES H. ZUMBERGE,

University of Southern California

Staff

STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director

STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director

JANICE E. MEHLER, Assistant Executive Director

JEANETTE A. SPOON, Financial Officer

CARLITA PERRY, Administrative Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1991. Opportunities and Priorities in Arctic Geoscience. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1842.
×
This page in the original is blank.
Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1991. Opportunities and Priorities in Arctic Geoscience. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1842.
×
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1991. Opportunities and Priorities in Arctic Geoscience. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1842.
×

Illustrations

Figures

1.

 

Subdivisions of the Cretaceous, Tertiary, and Quaternary periods of the geologic time scale that are widely used in this report.

 

6

2.

 

Principal geographic and physiographic features of the Arctic Ocean region.

 

8

3.

 

Major structural features of the arctic region.

 

10

4.

 

Recent status of published topographic and bathymetric mapping in the Arctic Ocean region.

 

15

5.

 

Recent status of onshore geologic mapping in the Arctic Ocean region.

 

16

6.

 

Recent status of gravity field surveys in the Arctic Ocean region.

 

17

7.

 

Recent status of aeromagnetic field surveys in the Arctic Ocean region.

 

18

8.

 

Location of proposed continental margin transects in the Arctic Ocean region.

 

26

9.

 

The pre-Pleistocene stratigraphic record in the Arctic Ocean Basin represented by paleontologically dated cores as of 1990.

 

34

Table

1.

 

Matrix for evaluating the priority of research needs in the arctic solid-earth geosciences.

 

56

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1991. Opportunities and Priorities in Arctic Geoscience. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1842.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1991. Opportunities and Priorities in Arctic Geoscience. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1842.
×

Opportunities and Priorities in ARCTIC GEOSCIENCE

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1991. Opportunities and Priorities in Arctic Geoscience. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1842.
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There is broad agreement in the scientific community that the solid earth beneath the Arctic Ocean basin contains answers to major unsolved problems in the earth sciences and that many of these pertain to questions that are of global scientific significance or pressing societal concern.

Recent political and technological developments, including the end of the Cold War and the prospective availability of nuclear submarines and powerful icebreakers for use as research platforms, appear to provide remedies for formidable obstacles of communication and access in harsh environmental conditions. This book recommends that the Arctic Ocean basin and its margins be the focus of a research program in three stages of study based on selected criteria: geologic framework and tectonic evolution, the sedimentary record and environmental history, and arctic geologic processes and environmental indicators.

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