Molloy Deep Explained

Molloy Deep
Coords:79.1367°N 2.8167°W
Type:Oceanic trench
Part Of:Fram Strait
Etymology:Arthur E. Molloy
Max-Depth:5550m (18,210feet)
Volume:600km3

The Molloy Deep (also known as the Molloy Hole) is a bathymetric feature in the Fram Strait, within the Greenland Sea[1] east of Greenland and about 160abbr=onNaNabbr=on west of Svalbard. It is the location of the deepest point in the Arctic Ocean. The Molloy Deep, Molloy Hole, Molloy Fracture Zone, and Molloy Ridge were named after Arthur E. Molloy, a U.S. Navy research scientist who worked in the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Arctic Oceans in the 1950s–1970s.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

The outer rim of the trench is at a depth of 2700m (8,900feet) and contains about 600sqkm inside the rim, descending to approximately 5550m (18,210feet) at its greatest depth. The basin floor measures about 220sqkm and is the deepest point in the Arctic Ocean.[9] [10] The only person to have reached the bottom of the Molloy Deep is American explorer Victor Vescovo as part of his Five Deeps Expedition.

Topography

The Molloy Deep is a roughly rectangular, seismically active,[11] extensional,[12] sea-floor basin that lies between the northwestern tip of the Molloy Fracture Zone[13] (a right-lateral, strike-slip fault[14]) and the Spitsbergen Fracture Zone (also a right-lateral, strike-slip fault). These two fracture zones connect the actively spreading northern segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ocean ridge system called the Knipovich Ridge with the Lena Trough, an actively spreading mid-ocean ridge region north of the Spitsbergen Fracture Zone. The Lena Trough joins the southwestern end of the Arctic Ocean's Gakkel Ridge,[15] which is the slowest-spreading mid-ocean ridge on Earth and which stretches across the entire Arctic Oceans’ Eurasian Basin.[16] [17] [18]

Surveys

The Molloy Deep was discovered in September 1972 by the USNS Hayes (T-AGOR-16), the first of a new class of catamaran-hulled oceanographic research vessels. The Molloy Deep, Molloy Hole, Molloy Fracture Zone, and Molloy Ridge were named after Arthur E. Molloy, a U.S. Navy research scientist who worked in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Arctic Oceans in the 1950s–1970s.[19]

Descents

The only person to reach the bottom of the Molloy Deep is Victor Vescovo on 24 August 2019.[20] The Five Deeps Expedition leader and chief submersible pilot, Vescovo, descended into the Molloy Deep in the Deep-Submergence Vehicle Limiting Factor (a Triton 36000/2 model submersible) from the support ship, the Deep Submersible Support Vessel DSSV Pressure Drop.[21] The Five Deeps Expedition established the depth of the Molloy Deep as 5550m (18,210feet) ±14m (46feet) by direct CTD pressure measurements.[22] This is shallower than previous estimations using earlier technology with less precise bathymetric methods.[23]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Fram Strait Bathymetry. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research. 2 October 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130514200320/http://www.awi.de/en/research/research_divisions/geosciences/marine_geology_and_paleontology/research_themes/bathymetry_and_geodesy/bathymetric_chart_of_the_fram_strait_bcfs/fram_strait_bathymetry/. 14 May 2013.
  2. IHO-IOC GEBCO Gazetteer of Undersea Feature Names (2018-06-25), available online at http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/gazetteer/
  3. Thiede. Jörn. Pfirman, Stephanie . Stephanie Pfirman. Schenke, Hans-Werner . Reil, Wolfgang . Bathymetry of Molloy Deep: Fram Strait between Svalbard and Greenland. Marine Geophysical Researches. 1990. 12. 3. 197–214. 10.1007/BF02266713. Springer. 1990MarGR..12..197T. 129241736.
  4. Klenke . Martin . Schenke . Hans Werner . 2002-07-01 . A new bathymetric model for the central Fram Strait . Marine Geophysical Research . 23 . 4 . 367–378 . 2002MarGR..23..367K . 10.1023/A:1025764206736 . 128515547.
  5. Bourke . Robert . Tunnicliffe . Mark . Newton . John . Paquette . Robert . Manley . Tom . 1987-06-30 . Eddy near the Molloy Deep revisited . . 92 . C7 . 6773–6776 . 1987JGR....92.6773B . 10.1029/JC092iC07p06773.
  6. Thiede. Jörn. Pfirman. Stephanie. Stephanie Pfirman. Schenke. Hans Werner. Reil. Wolfgang. 1990-08-01. Bathymetry of Molloy Deep: Fram Strait between Svalbard and Greenland. Mar. Geophys. Res.. 12. 3. 197–214. 10.1007/BF02266713. 1990MarGR..12..197T. 129241736.
  7. Freire. Francis. Gyllencreutz. Richard. Jafri. Rooh. Jakobsson. Martin. 2014-03-31. Acoustic evidence of a submarine slide in the deepest part of the Arctic, the Molloy Hole. Geo-Marine Letters. 34. 4. 10.1007/s00367-014-0371-5. 315–325. 2014GML....34..315F. 130008727.
  8. Five Deeps Expedition is complete after historic dive to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean.
  9. Freire . Francis . Gyllencrentz . Richard . Jafri . Rooh Ullah . Jakobsson . Martin . April 2014 . Acoustic evidence of a submarine slide in the deepest part of the Arctic, the Molloy Hole . Geo-Marine Letters . 34 . 4 . 315–325 . 2014GML....34..315F . 10.1007/s00367-014-0371-5 . 130008727.
  10. Jakobsson . Martin . etal . 2012 . The International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean (IBCAO) Version 3.0 . Geophys Res Lett . 39 . 12 . 1–6 . 2012GeoRL..3912609J . 10.1029/2012GL052219 . 55994905 . free . 2445/175672.
  11. Läderach . C. . Schlindwein . V. . Schenke . H.-W. . Jokat . W. . March 2011 . Seismicity and active tectonic processes in the ultra-slow spreading Lena Trough, Arctic Ocean . . 184 . 3 . 1354–1370 . 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2010.04926.x . free . 2011GeoJI.184.1354L . 130643353.
  12. Baturin . D.G. . 1990 . Structure and Geodynamics of the Molloy Transform Fracture Zones in the Mid-Ridge System of the Norway–Greenland Oceanic Basin . Okeanologiya . 30 . 3. 436–443 .
  13. JThiede . J. . etal . 1990 . Bathymetry of Molloy Deep: Fram Strait Between Svalbard and Greenland . Marine Geophysical Researches . 12 . 3 . 197–214 . 10.1007/bf02266713 . 1990MarGR..12..197T . 129241736 .
  14. Chamov . N. P. . Sokolov . S. Yu. . Kostyleva . V. V. . Efimov . V. N. . Peive . A. A. . Aleksandrova . G. N. . Bylinskaya . M. E. . Radionova . E. P. . Stupin . S. I. . 1 . 2010 . Structure and composition of the sedimentary cover in the Knipovich Rift valley and Molloy Deep (Norwegian-Greenland basin) . Lithology and Mineral Resources . 45 . 6 . 532–554 . 10.1134/S0024490210060039 . 2010LitMR..45..532C . 56258200.
  15. Web site: Do You Know the Different Types of Faults?.
  16. Cochran . James R. . Kurras . Gregory J. . Edwards . Margo H. . Coakley . Bernard J. . February 2003 . The Gakkel Ridge: Bathymetry, gravity anomalies, and crustal accretion at extremely slow spreading rates . . 108 . B2 . 2116 . 2003JGRB..108.2116C . 10.1029/2002JB001830 . free.
  17. Nikishin . A.M. . Gaina . C. . Petrov . E.I. . Malyshev . N.A. . Freiman . S.I. . October 2018 . Eurasia Basin and Gakkel Ridge, Arctic Ocean: Crustal asymmetry, ultra-slow spreading and continental rifting revealed by new seismic data . . 746 . 64–82 . 2018Tectp.746...64N . 10.1016/j.tecto.2017.09.006 . 133976322 . free . 10852/72327.
  18. Piskarev . Alexey . Elkina . Daria . 10 April 2017 . Giant caldera in the Arctic Ocean: Evidence of the catastrophic eruptive event . . 7 . 1 . 46248 . 2017NatSR...746248P . 10.1038/srep46248 . 5385544 . 28393928 . 17612035.
  19. Book: Perry, R.K. . The Nordic Seas . Springer-Verlag . 1986 . 978-0-387-96241-2 . Hurdle . Burton G. . 227–28 . Bathymetry . 10.1007/978-1-4615-8035-5_9 . 85025179.
  20. News: Amos . Jonathan . 2019-09-09 . Victor Vescovo: Adventurer reaches deepest ocean locations . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240520121112/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49636756 . 2024-05-20 . 2019-09-10 . . en-GB.
  21. Web site: Full Ocean Depth Submersible LIMITING FACTOR . fivedeeps.com . 2019-10-10.
  22. News: Five Deeps Expedition is complete after historic dive to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. Five Deeps Expedition. 2019-09-09. 2019-10-10. en-US.
  23. Bongiovanni . Cassandra . Stewart . Heather A. . Jamieson . Alan J. . 2021-05-05 . High-resolution multibeam sonar bathymetry of the deepest place in each ocean . Geoscience Data Journal . 9 . 1 . 108–123 . 10.1002/gdj3.122 . free.

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