Monthly survey to study thermohaline and biological characterization of water masses in the East-North Atlantic.
Monthly survey to study thermohaline and biological characterization of water masses in the East-North Atlantic.
This project was a hydrographic section at latitude 24°N, with physical, chemical and biological measurements. The section was a complete section from continent to continent from North America (Caribbean) to Africa (off the coast of the Western Sahara). The section started and ended in 200 metres water depth, at the edge of the continental shelf. This was a contribution to the international CLIVAR/Carbon repeat hydrography program (http://ioc3.unesco.org/ioccp/Hydrography/New_GlobalMap.html). Climate change will be studied by comparing the new data with historical measurements. Ocean heat transport plays a major role in the coupled ocean-atmosphere climate system. We will study the present-day circulation by calculating the heat and freshwater transported by the ocean across the 24°N latitude. The ocean western boundary current system, in this case the Gulf Stream flowing through the Florida Strait, plays a crucial role in the oceanic heat transport. Therefore a crossing of the Florida Strait will be carried out to establish the status of this important ocean feature. All data arising from the cruise will be lodged and made available via the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC), UK.
SHOM cruise .
Characterizing the variability of hydrological and current measurement features and particulate fluxes in two canyons of Le Planier (station PL1000) and Lacaze-Duthiers (station LD1000) located at the easternmost and westernmost tips of the Gulf of Lion.
SHOM cruise
This was the fourth and last cruise undertaken as part of the NERC-funded consortium project (NE/C512961/1) entitled ECOMAR - Ecosystem of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at the Sub-Polar Front and Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone. http://www.oceanlab.abdn.ac.uk/ecomar/index.php ECOMAR forms part of the Census of Marine Life MAR-ECO project which is an international study of life in the northern mid-Atlantic Ocean with scientists from 16 nations participating in research of the waters around the mid-Atlantic Ridge from Iceland to the Azores (http://www.mar-eco.no). Depart: Wednesday, 26 May, St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada. Long term moorings were recovered at four super stations at a bottom depth of 2500m equipped with sediment traps, current meters, ADCP and sensor suites, SE - 49°01.92'N, 27°40.82'W, SW - 48°46.80'N, 28°38.43'W, NW - 53°59.33'N, 36°07.39'W and NE 54°00.05'N 34°10.58'W. Video and still images of the sea floor were obtained during 4 lander deployments and 21 ISIS ROV dives. Faunas samples were taken on 17 of these ROV dives, further samples from 13 successful megacorer casts and 4 baited traps. High definition video sea floor surveys were completed of approximately 50,000 m2 of sea floor. Arrive: Vigo, Spain, Saturday 3 July 2010.
SHOM cruise
Assessment of small pelagic species resources in the Gulf of Lion using echo-integration and trawl hauls to identify the observed echoes. This is related to the SIDEPECHE programme.
Understanding the role played by the combined physical-biogeochemical dynamics at (sub)-mesoscales in exchanges of matter and energy between coastal and open sea areas. The LATEX strategy is based on selective and combined use of numerical modelling and in situ observations (Lagrangian floats, SF6, shipboard ADCPs, ADCP moorings, satellite images, gliders and coastal radars). The main objective of LATEX is to study the impact of an eddy structure at (sub)mesoscale, which is chronically present in the western part of the Gulf of Lion, in interaction with the North Mediterranean current(NMC)on trends in the distribution of conservative tracers and biogeochemical properties. Thanks to this strategy, LATEX should provide answers to the following questions: - Is this type of structure likely to significantly affect the horizontal transfer of matter between the continental shelf and the NMC? - What are the consequences for biogeochemical cycles of the structure's interaction with the NMC? - How do CO2 concentrations evolve within the eddy throughout its life cycle? - How does this type of (sub)-mesoscale coastal eddy act in structuring of plankton communities and the variability in primary production observed in the study zone? - Are the amounts of matter transferred by (sub)-mesoscale structures significant with respect to that displaced by the general circulation on seasonal and annual scales? The related project is called LATEX (LAgrangian Transport Experiment).