Study of strategies to reduce discards and unwanted species: selectivity and survival in trawling in Cantabrian-Northwest zone.

This cruise aims to investigate the seismic stratigraphy and palaeoceanographic evolution of the Le Danois contourite depositional system (Van Rooij et al., 2010), at several locations in the Le Danois "intraslope basin". Previous research (R/V Belgica in 2004, among others) has highlighted a significant correlation with the Cadiz CDS, suggesting a nearly simultaneous control by the Mediterranean Outflow Water since the Early Pliocene. As such, the Le Danois CDS is the only location in the Bay of Biscay where high-resolution climate change (e.g. bottom currents) may be recorded in a continuous way. It will assist in better constrain the role of the MOW in the thermohaline circulation system. Therefore, this large-scale sediment body is an ideal target for (a) investigating the MOW palaeoceanography within the NE Atlantic basin and (b) a palaeoclimatologic reconstruction of the Cantabrian margin. The main objective of this campaign is to acquire additional geophysical data which will give more insight in the construction and 3D evolution of this sedimentary deposit. This campaign will be executed in close cooperation with the Proyecto Coordinado CONTOURIBER (CTM 2008-06399-C04/MAR), with invited researchers from Spanish research institutes. More specifically, R/V Belgica ST1118a aims to perform: 1.High-resolution single channel sparker seismic profiling: investigation of the stratigraphic framework and the sedimentary environment in the western part of the intraslope basin between the Vizco High (west), the Lastras canyon system (east), Le Danois bank (north) and the Asturias slope (south). This will mainly focus on the lateral and temporal evolution of Le Danois drift and the Gijon drift and their interaction. The location of these profiles is determined based on industrial multichannel airgun profiles, in order to compare seismic methods with different penetration depths and seismic resolutions. We are very grateful to TGS-NOPEC for allowing us to use a large unpublished data set of seismic records from the Cantabrian Sea. 2.Hydrography: at specific sites in the intraslope basin, CTD casts will aim to better map the presence and behavior of the Mediterranean Outflow Water within the main elements of the Gijon and Le Danois drifts. The newly acquired Seapoint turbidity sensor will be able to indicate regions of active sediment transport within the Le Danois CDS. Multibeam bathymetry with the Belgica EM1002 will be only be used as a backup in case of spare time or failure of the other methods. The proponents are aware of the Marine Protected Area status of the Le Danois Bank, and will be vigilant to respect the guidelines of conducting scientific research. In order to ensure vigilance with respect to marine mammals, a team of whale watchers of MUMM, ULg (Belgium), CRMM (France) and OCEAMM (France) will be participating. This part of the campaign is a cooperation between the RCMG (UGent), the University of Vigo, the Geological Survey of Spain (IGME), the Spanish Oceanographic Institute (IEO), the Spanish Institute of Marine Sciences (CMIMA-CSIC) and the University of Cádiz.

The objective of this campaign is the sampling of sediments. These sediments will be used to assess the organic and inorganic pollutants in the marine area, as well as the possible biological effects of contaminants. In this survey, along with the traditional pollutants, the presence of microplastics in sediments will also be evaluated.

Multibeam bathymetic survey, high resolution seismic profiles and characterization of seabed and habitats of the continental slope of Murcia

Study of strategies to reduce discards and unwanted species: selectivity and survival in trawling in Cantabrian-Northwest zone.

Study of strategies to reduce discards and unwanted species: selectivity and survival in trawling in Cantabrian-Northwest zone.

Study of strategies to reduce discards and unwanted species: selectivity and survival in trawling in Cantabrian-Northwest zone.

The sediments of the Galician Interior Basin realm are capable of recording the peculiar conditions of the last glacial‐interglacial dynamics transition into the current interglacial and their evolution into present day, as they are influenced by the Thermohaline Circulation (THC) and because their proximity to the important continental land‐mass of western Iberia. The knowledge of the rates and magnitudes of change of this system is critical to understand its climate dynamics, processes and feedbacks, and hence its role on a local to sub‐regional scale. The inference of these climatic mechanisms encrypted in the deep‐sea sedimentary record needs to constrain the spatial and temporal scales of the sedimentary processes involved, in particular the identification of source areas, pathways and transport, storage times and hydrodynamic conditions. To adequately assess these encrypted sedimentary archives it is instrumental to identify the sedimentary expression of the main processes and forcements involved and accurately determine the spatial and temporal scales, rates and magnitudes of the processes and feedbacks that generate these records. This proposal aims to carry out a high‐resolution reconstruction of the transport time,provenance, sediment fluxes, wave climate, bottom‐current variability and post‐depositional alteration in a number of surficial samples and cores from the Galician Interior Basin. This project will provide a first insight into the relation between the last North Atlantic climate oscillation and the local regional components including abrupt climate changes (i.e. H events) and local events since the end of the last glacial period from a paleoclimatic proxies perspective. We will use a twofold approach by first constraining the current sedimentary conditions to their associated local wave climate and North Atlantic regional forcements to subsequently infer the paleoenvironmental conditions from the past 30‐50 ky sedimentary record. Firstly, analysing and modelling the present hydraulic conditions from newly acquired and historical wave climate and oceanographic records from the study area will study the current sedimentary conditions and forcements. These data will be linked to the present day sedimentation conditions by direct measurements of present day sedimentation and oceanographic conditions, supported by moored sediment traps, CTD, Doppler records and surficial samples. Epifauna, infauna, microfauna and sediment microestructure will also be studied. Subsequently we will udertake a multidisciplinary study combining high‐resolution geochemical, physical properties, environmental magnetic sediment derived records with high precision U‐series isotopes analyses in a well‐constrained geochronological framework. Further support will be provided by seismic‐acoustic data acquisition. The combination of these sedimentological, micropaleontological, geochemical and geophysical tools will help in better resolving the role of current strength, circulation and sediment provenance changes also considering across vs. along margin transport balances in the sedimentary record of the Galician Internal basin over the last 30‐50 ky

Study the role of B vitamins on the community structure, activity and succesion of the microbial plankton in a coastal upwelling system.

Study the role of B vitamins on the community structure, activity and succesion of the microbial plankton in a coastal upwelling system.