FS Polarstern ANTXXIX/5
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | FS Polarstern (06AQ) |
| Cruise identifier | ANTXXIX/5 |
| Cruise period | 2013-04-18 — 2013-05-29 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Stanley, Falkland Islands (Malvinas) |
| Port of return | Saldanha Bay, South Africa |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | The geophysical program aimed to retrieve new geophysical information on the geological evolution of the Falkland Plateau. To investigate this problem all relevant methods like deep seismic sounding, gravity and magnetic data were acquired to set up later on a sound crustal velocity/density model for the area.
From the geology of the Falkland Islands it is known that they consist of very old Precambrian continental rocks. How far the basement rocks of the islands stretch towards the east underneath the Falkland Plateau is completely unknown. For plate tectonic reconstructions, however, is this question of great relevance. Comparing the geology of the islands with those of the mountains around Cape Town it is obvious that they are very similar. Before the opening of the South Atlantic some 130 Million years ago both rock formations were located close together. To find constraints on the most likely position of the Falkland Islands relative to South Africa was one of the main objectives of the geophysical investigations. |
| Chief scientist | Wilfried Jokat (Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research) |
| Cruise report |  (19.83 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | South Atlantic Ocean |
| Specific | Georgia Basin |
| Track charts | (0.76 MB) |
