RRS Challenger CH11/79
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | RRS Challenger (74CH) |
| Cruise identifier | CH11/79 |
| Cruise period | 1979-08-02 — 1979-08-15 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Barry, United Kingdom |
| Port of return | Ardrossan, United Kingdom |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | 1. To obtain quantitative samples of deep-sea macrobenthos using 0.25m2 box corers for study of benthic community structure and standing crop at locations on the continental slope in the Southwestern Approaches, in the Porcupine Seabight at stations studied by IOS (Wormley) and at various locations in the Rockall Trough.
2. To obtain seabed photographs using a bottom triggered stereo and mono systems camera at some of these sites, including the Whittard Canyon, for MBA. 3. To obtain intact box cores of the deep-sea sediment, using the Reineck box corer, in order to extend studies of biogenic structure in shelf muds to deep se deposits. 4. To obtain a large sample, using the epibenthic sled, of deep-sea macrobenthos from the SMABA Permanent Station in the southern Rockall Trough in order to continue the time series started in November 1975. 5. To obtain samples of benthic megafauna using the Agassiz Trawl at a station between the Anton Dohrn Seamount and the adjacent Scottish slope in order to continue a secondary time series, with an emphasis on megafaunal echinoderms, for Dr Tyler and SMBA, and opportunistically at other stations in order to augment previous ophiuroid records. 6. To obtain samples of deep plankton at the SMBA permanent station for Dr Tyler. 7. To obtain sediment samples from the Porcupine Bank for the Department of Geology, Edinburgh University. |
| Chief scientist | John D Gage (Scottish Marine Biological Association) |
| Cruise report |  (0.41 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | North East Atlantic Ocean (limit 40W) |
| Track charts |  |
| Measurements | |
| Biology and fisheries | |
| Zooplankton | |
| Zoobenthos | Quantity: number of hauls = 9 Description: taxonomy,population studies |
| Gear research | |
| Geology and geophysics | |
| Grab | Quantity: number of samples = 3 Description: Shipek grab samples. |
| Core - soft bottom | Quantity: number of cores = 2 |
| Bottom photography | Quantity: number of image series = 8 Description: bottom photography |
