Dürkefälden, Antje, Geldmacher, Jörg , Hauff, Folkmar and Werner, Reinhard (2020) Origin and Geodynamic Evolution of King's Trough: The Grand Canyon of the North Atlantic, Cruise No. M168 (GPF 20-3_080), November 08 - December 08, 2020, Emden (Germany) - Emden (Germany). . METEOR-Berichte, M168 . Gutachterpanel Forschungsschiffe, Bonn, 139 pp. DOI 10.48433/cr_m168.

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Abstract

The goal of R/V METEOR expedition M168 was to investigate the origin and geodynamic
evolution of the enigmatic King’s Trough Complex, surrounding seamounts and the AzoresBiscay Rise in the North Atlantic Ocean northeast of the Azores. Before M168, these structures
were still largely unexplored and their origin has been debated for decades. Investigation of the
structures was conducted by extensive rock sampling with chain bag dredges, by bathymetric
mapping with the ship’s own multi-beam echo-sounding system (KONGSBERG EM 122) and
by sub-bottom profiling (ATLAS PARASOUND P70). A total of 48 dredge hauls in water
depths between 5,340 and 1,340 m were carried out at Palmer Ridge and associated Freen and
Peake Troughs, at King’s Trough, at the Gnitsevich Seamounts northwest of King’s Trough and
at the northernmost Azores-Biscay Rise including the North Charcot Seamount Complex directly
in the east. Of these dredge hauls, 36 (= 76.6 %) yielded a variety of magmatic rocks comprising
lava fragments and pillow lava occasionally containing fresh glass, gabbroic/dioritic and
doleritic rocks, ultramafic rocks possibly of harzburgitic composition and volcaniclastic rocks.
Bathymetric mapping revealed that King’s Trough is much more complex than it appeared from
previously available maps based on low resolution satellite altimetry. It seems to be composed of
individual segments striking in slightly different directions and could possibly formed by a series
of strike-slip faults.

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