The French ECORS Program

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Abstract
The French Etude de la Croûte Terrestre en France par Méthode Sismique (ECORS) program, which began operations in 1983, has now, after 5 years of existence, completed 700 km of onland seismic reflection profiles (200 km with Spain and Italy as partners) and over 2500 km at sea (with the United Kingdom and Spain as partners). The program was started in 1982 as a partnership of the French Science Foundation (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique—Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers (CNRSINSU)), the French Petroleum Institute (IFP), and the Elf‐Aquitaine oil company. The Institut Français de Recherches pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) joined all the sea surveys. Occasionally, other oil companies joined in specific profiles. The ECORS program was obviously inspired by the success of the Consortium for Continental Reflection Profiling (COCORP) program, and at the same time tried to avoid some of its shortcomings, primarily by associating narrow‐ and wide‐angle reflection and refraction seismology, but also by encouraging an integrated approach in which field geology, gravity, and magnetic surveying and magnetotellurics were all used. Existing data, including many boreholes, were assembled and critically reviewed, but large amounts of new data were also obtained as part of the ECORS program.