Report on workshop "Prospects on the Earth Science Program in Western Enderby Land, East Antarctica"

Abstract

A workshop on "Prospects on the Earth Science Program in Western Enderby Land" was held on September 8,1998 at the National Institute of Polar Research, with 34 participants. The future program of earth sciences in Enderby Land, entitled "Structure and Evolution of the East Antarctic Lithosphere (SEAL Project)" was discussed, considering both scientific significance and logistic problems. First, the details of geological surveys in the Tonagh Islands were reported by the 39th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE-39) in 1998,followed by the planning of the JARE-40 party in 1999,using two helicopters over wide areas of Western Enderby Land. Second, seismic explosion experiments by JARE-41 in 2000 were planned to be held on the Mizuho Plateau icesheet. The location of seismic lines was changed from Tonagh Island, because of the danger of environmental impact on the vegetation and alteration of outcrops. Finally, a proposed large-scale seismic experiment across the geological boundary between the Napier and the Rayner Complexes using helicopters was determined to face operational difficulties and will be discussed laterly in relation to future plans of JARE. This report is focused on the environmental acessment for seismic explosion experiments in the Antarctic region.