In continuation of a fracture zone survey of BGR in 1985, there was a multichannel seismic survey of the Hayes Fracture Zone between 20°W and 27°W in the time from October 26th to November 11th, 1988. In spite of bad weather conditions, it was possible to collect a total of 1.760 km seismic and gravity data on 11 lines. From a first interpretation of the seismic monitor records on board it appears that the frequency of intra-crustal reflections in the records from the area west of 20°W is much less than on the records of the survey of the previous cruise in 1985. During a second leg in the time period from 14th November to 21th November 1988 an additional seismic survey of the Kane Fracture Zone took place with 7 supplementary profiles.
A geophysical reconnaissance survey across oceanic fracture zones has been carried out by the BGR in the eastern North Atlantic using S.V. PROSPEKTA. The geophysical measurements, including multichannel seismic reflection profiling, magnetics and gravity were concentrated on three oceanic crustal areas of Mesozoic crust which are crossed by the Hayes Fracture Zone, the Atlantis Fracture Zone and the Kane Fracture Zone respectively. 24 geophysical lines with a total length of 5,362 km have been measured during the time period from 25th October to 4th December 1985. Besides intracrustal seismic events a deep coherent seismic event is often recognizable in the monitor records between 10 - 12 s (TWT) along several lines, which probably is a reflection from the crust-mantle boundary.