9730813 Cormier A night field program using the Autonomous Benthic Explorer (ABE) to survey the seafloor on a previously-funded cruise to 17oS on the East Pacific Rise is proposed. The previously-funded cruise will include ALVIN dives, DSL-120 side-looking sonar, wax coring, and dredging operations to determine the petrological, geochemical, and volcanological aspects of this mid-ocean ridge environment. The use of the ABE should allow the better identification of lavas flows, their morphology, dimensions, and along axis continuity. A magnetometer has been added to the ABE for the purpose of identifying recent, highly magnetized feeder dikes and, potentially, non-magnetized feeder dikes.
