Abstract
A towed, near-bottom survey system termed ANGUS (Acoustically-Navigated Geological Undersea Surveyor) has been developed for geological and geophysical studies in the median rift valley of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. System communication is solely acoustic and incorporates a relay transponder attached to either a camera fish, rock dredge, corer, or heat probe device with a shipboard transducer and a seafloor transponder array. The devices can be located with a precision of 5 to 10 m along a simultaneously collected high-resolution bathymtric profile. Automatic digital computer processing of the acoustic navigational information permits real-time monitoring of the path of the device on shipboard graphic display units. Approximately 60,000 high-quality photographs, 70 rock dredges, and 100 heat-flow observations have been collected and related to seafloor features with relief as small as 20 to 30 m. The basic camera fish allows for the addition of other geophysical instruments. Also, expendable sonobuoys have been positioned precisely to locate microearthquakes.
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