The SEISCAN image archive: an exercise in environmental geophysics

Several hundred thousand kilometres of marine seismic reflection records collected up to 30 years ago remain only as paper records; and this applies to European Exclusive Economie Zone (EEZ) surveys alone. These data records were collected during scientific programmes by academie institutions since the 1960s. Owing to deteriorating recording media (magnetic tape) and the absence of appropriate instrumentation these data cannot be re-played. Often the records remain boxed and un-referenced while gradually deteriorating; those of greater interest having suffered more by handling. SEISCAN is a project to rescue these early seismic records which, with few exceptions, have not been archived in any photographic or other reproducible form. The 3-year project is funded by the European Commission MAST-III Supporting Initiative Programme and involves 5 European partner institutions. These partners will oversee an initial phase compiling seismic record metadata prior to digital scanning and image processing. The image database created will not involve any cost to the contributing organisations.