Search

The Mesopac Cruise was the first multichannel seismic study of the western basins of the Pacific Plate. It was concentrated in the Nauru Basin and in the western area of the Central Pacific Basin. Profiles were calibrated with drilling results from DSDP Sites 462 and 169. For the first time one could observe reflectors within the Cretaceous volcanic complex down to approximately equals 8.5 seconds. Profiles did not allow direct observation of the top of the oceanic crust. After correcting for the load on top of the oceanic crust, results suggest that it cannot lie much deeper than those reflectors. If the oceanic crust lies only a few hundred meters beneath the 2.4 km thick complex, it would be right on the normal thermal subsidence curve corresponding to a Jurassic age.