RRS Discovery D274 (Sirena2)
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | RRS Discovery (74E3) |
| Cruise identifier | D274 (Sirena2) |
| Cruise period | 2003-09-12 — 2003-10-01 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Govan, United Kingdom |
| Port of return | Ponta Delgada, Portugal |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | Six autonomous hydrophones (alias "haruphones") were deployed in the SOFAR channel in the North Atlantic during the SIRENA cruise (see the general track map in section III for the locations of the mooring sites). At water depths around 1000 metres, acoustic waves generated in the water column by earthquakes - and by marine mammals - propagate to very long distances with a very low signal attenuation. The moorings are located on both flanks of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR), north of the Azores, between latitudes 40degN and 50.5degN (that is between the Azores Plateau and a major structural discontinuity south of the Gibbs Fracture Zone). An haruphone network, similar to the one which was deployed during the SIRENA cruise, has been deployed south of the Azores by the PMEL/NOAA between latitudes 17degN and 35degN. This network has been operating since Feb. 99 and will remain active for one more year from now. It should be noted in this respect that the Azores Plateau is globally shallower than the SOFAR channel in the North Atlantic, especially as the apex of the SOFAR channel was found to be unusually deep in the area of survey, exceeding 1000 meters at some of the mooring sites. It therefore acts as a "barrier" to the sound propagation of the acoustic waves generated by earthquakes whose epicenters are located south of the Plateau. The existence of such a barrier explains that the haruphone network which is presently operated by PMEL/NOAA cannot observe any of the events which originate south of the Azores Plateau. This problem is the main reason which warranted the SIRENA experiment.
The SIRENA cruise objectives (two main objectives and an ancillary one) are based on a very accurate determination (better than 2 km) of the epicenters of the earthquakes occurring along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Such a precise determination will be made possible by the data recorded by the hydrophone network. The objectives are the following: 1 - To contribute to the understanding of a |
| Chief scientist | Jean Goslin (Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science (UMR CNRS 6539)) |
| Project | SIRENA |
| Coordinating body | UMR6538/GNRS in Brest |
| Cruise report |  (1.19 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | North Atlantic Ocean |
| Specific | Mid-Atlantic |
| Track charts | (0.15 MB) |
| Measurements | |
| Geology and geophysics | |
| Multi-beam echosounding | Description: Topographic survey of the Terceira Ridge |
| Moorings, landers, buoys | |
| Geology and geophysics | |
| Geophysical measurements made at depth | 40° 20' 15" N 25° 2' 13" W — Recovery of autonomous hydrophone mooring (developed by the PMEL/NOAA) |
| Geophysical measurements made at depth | 42° 43' 1" N 34° 43' 20" W — Recovery of autonomous hydrophone mooring |
| Geophysical measurements made at depth | 47° 0' 11" N 22° 10' 2" W — Recovery of autonomous hydrophone mooring |
| Geophysical measurements made at depth | 49° 51' 15" N 24° 34' 26" W — Recovery of autonomous hydrophone mooring |
| Geophysical measurements made at depth | 50° 34' 31" N 34° 30' 0" W — Recovery of autonomous hydrophone mooring |
| Geophysical measurements made at depth | 47° 35' 35" N 32° 27' 15" W — Recovery of autonomous hydrophone mooring |
