Deep-Towed Chirp Profiles of the Blake Ridge Methane Release Site

1992 and 1995 data from two research cruises aboard the R/V Cape Hatteras collected deep-towed chirp subbottom profiles. The dataset includes 58 km of data from 1992 and 100 km from 1995, focusing on a methane release structure on the Blake Ridge. It was created by the USGS as part of natural gas hydrate research, documented in Open-File Report 01-123.

Use Cases

• Analyzing subbottom chirp profiles to map sediment layers and identify the Blake Ridge collapse structure.
• Correlating seismic reflection data features with locations of past methane release from seafloor sediments.
• Processing SEG-Y format acoustic data to study the amplitude envelope of reflections from density boundaries.

Strengths

• 158 km total of deep-towed chirp subbottom profile data across two collection years.
• Data archived in standard SEG-Y format, compatible with common geophysical processing software.

Limitations

• Dataset is historical, with the most recent data collected in 1995.
• Additional data types collected on the cruises, such as sidescan mosaic and air gun seismic data, are not included in this archive.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column structures are not provided.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Open-File Report 01-123.

Collection Method

Data collected using a deep-towed chirp subbottom profiler and the ISIS data acquisition system aboard the R/V Cape Hatteras.

Time Range

1992, 1995

Freshness

null

Geography

Blake Ridge collapse structure, approximately 300 km off the South Carolina coast at 2600 m water depth.