British Geological Survey (BGS) Geophysical and Sampling Survey 1973/WH/13: North West Scotland and Malin Sea (20/06/1973 to 24/07/1973)

This marine geophysical and sampling survey comprised two legs (Cruise CSU II 73/WH/13, Legs 1 and 2) and formed part of the British Geological Survey (BGS) regional mapping project. It was undertaken from June to July 1973 in the Sea of the Hebrides, Malin Sea, West of Orkney and Irish Sea area using the MV Whitethorn. The main purpose was to obtain boreholes to prove the extent of the geology, standby work included 1) Sediment sampling in sea lochs in conjunction with Edinburgh University 2) Shallow seismic profiling in sea lochs to determine sediment distribution. 3) sediment sampling, current meter and shallow geophysics in conjunction iwth University College London. Sea-bed samples and cores were collected using Gravity corer, Vibrocorer and Wireline drilling. Geophysical lines run included Pinger, sparker and sidescan sonar equipment. Position fixing during the cruise was Main Chain Decca for standard sampling and geophysical lines and Decca RM 729 Alpine Radar Ranger for boreholes. These data are archived by BGS. Technical details of the survey are contained in BGS Technical Report WB/MI/74/18.