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RRS Charles Darwin CD166
Cruise summary report
Cruise Info. | |
Ship name (ship code) | RRS Charles Darwin (74AB) |
Cruise identifier | CD166 |
Cruise period | 2004-10-29 — 2004-11-22 |
Status | Completed |
Port of departure | Lisbon, Portugal |
Port of return | Funchal, Portugal |
Purpose | Research |
Objectives | After a three-day weather delay, RRS Charles Darwin left Lisbon on Oct 29th for the start of a new research cruise that would contribute to the UK-TAPS Agadir and Speculobe Projects. The scientific team, representing the UK, Spain, Germany, Russia, Greece and Portugal, were led by Dr Russell Wynn from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. The cruise ended in Madeira on Nov 22nd.
The first two days of the cruise were spent collecting 12 sediment cores in the Gulf of Cadiz, southern Spain, as part of a project called Speculobe that is a NERC/industry consortium project. The ship then transferred to the Agadir project area, comprising the deep Agadir Canyon and Basin off Morocco, northwest Africa. The water depth is over 4 km in this region, and the work area was several hundred kilometres from the Moroccan coast to the east and the volcanic Canary Islands to the south. However, preliminary work in the deep basin had shown that seafloor sediments contain Moroccan beach sands, volcanic lava fragments from Tenerife, and even pieces of wood! This material was transported by giant underwater avalanches (composed of a turbulent mixture of water, sand and mud), that originate as landslides in shallower water close to land. These underwater avalanches then travel downslope at high speed through canyons and channels until they reach the flat basin floor. Most of their sand and mud was then dumped, smothering huge areas of seafloor and destroying all life. By studying the deposits left behind by these catastrophic events, scientists can work out where they come from, how often they occur, and whether they are capable of generating potentially damaging tidal waves that could effect coastal towns and villages in the region. They can also see how quickly deep-sea organisms can re-colonise the seafloor after being exterminated. In total, about 50 cores were recovered from the Agadir area during the cruise. As well as sediment sampling, the cruise team carried out short geophysical surveys to map interesting areas of seafloor in 3D, and also to look at how the sediment layers have built up. They also recorded all the marine wildlife that was seen, including whales, dolphins and seabirds. The Agadir Project is financially supported by the NERC and a group of four oil companies (ExxonMobil, Shell, ConocoPhillips and BHP Billiton). |
Chief scientist | Russell B Wynn (Southampton Oceanography Centre) |
Project | Agadir Project |
Coordinating body | UK-TAPS (Project Leader - Russell Wynn) |
Cruise report | (0.28 MB) |
Ocean/sea areas | |
General | North East Atlantic Ocean (limit 40W) |
Specific | Area 1: Gulf of Cadiz 35deg40’ to 35deg55’N / 07deg45’ to 07deg25’W Area 2: Agadir 30 to 33degN / 12 to 19degW |
Track charts | |
Measurements | |
Biology and fisheries | |
Birds | Description: Record of marine wildlife during cruise including whales, dolphins and seabirds |
Mammals and reptiles | Description: Record of marine wildlife during cruise including whales, dolphins and seabirds |
Geology and geophysics | |
Single-beam echosounding | Description: multibeam bathymetry and 3.5kHz/echosounder data collected along all ship's track |
Multi-beam echosounding | Description: multibeam bathymetry and 3.5kHz/echosounder data collected along all ship's track |
Single channel seismic reflection | Description: multibeam bathymetry and 3.5kHz/echosounder data collected along all ship's track |
Moorings, landers, buoys | |
Geology and geophysics | |
Core - soft bottom | 35° 45' 22" N 7° 40' 0" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 35° 45' 19" N 7° 39' 24" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 35° 46' 18" N 7° 37' 12" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 35° 46' 38" N 7° 37' 18" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 35° 45' 11" N 7° 37' 18" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 35° 45' 10" N 7° 36' 24" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 35° 46' 40" N 7° 34' 12" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 29' 59" N 16° 12' 0" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 38' 58" N 16° 20' 58" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 26' 46" N 17° 13' 13" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 27' 9" N 17° 13' 7" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 27' 47" N 17° 12' 43" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 28' 50" N 17° 12' 19" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 20' 59" N 16° 3' 33" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 28' 0" N 16° 17' 30" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 20' 31" N 12° 38' 47" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 14' 29" N 14° 22' 30" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 4' 8" N 14° 43' 53" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 22' 19" N 12° 34' 7" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 32' 40" N 12° 37' 5" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 34' 58" N 12° 36' 24" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 23' 5" N 13° 31' 57" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 27' 2" N 13° 29' 6" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 26' 58" N 13° 29' 4" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 29' 28" N 13° 27' 31" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 29' 27" N 13° 27' 27" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 33' 29" N 13° 24' 31" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 34' 58" N 13° 24' 28" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 34' 18" N 13° 24' 28" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 34' 22" N 13° 24' 30" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 29' 44" N 13° 15' 54" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 32' 28" N 13° 37' 59" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 27' 28" N 13° 51' 59" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 21' 0" N 14° 8' 0" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 8' 59" N 14° 38' 0" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 11' 59" N 14° 30' 1" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 2' 29" N 14° 30' 2" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 17' 30" N 14° 37' 59" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 44' 29" N 14° 34' 29" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 46' 49" N 14° 36' 10" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 53' 30" N 14° 38' 20" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 12' 28" N 14° 50' 59" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 22' 0" N 15° 0' 1" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 36' 41" N 15° 15' 6" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 32' 59" N 15° 10' 20" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 22' 17" N 12° 38' 47" W — Mega Core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 13' 58" N 17° 9' 36" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 15' 10" N 17° 9' 16" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 26' 23" N 16° 42' 42" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 16' 48" N 16° 41' 39" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 24' 56" N 16° 26' 16" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 17' 33" N 16° 0' 51" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 13' 49" N 15° 57' 17" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 35' 9" N 15° 58' 1" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 41' 0" N 15° 44' 1" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 47' 30" N 15° 13' 0" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 54' 31" N 15° 34' 38" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 52' 6" N 15° 14' 57" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 59' 53" N 15° 0' 7" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 35° 45' 57" N 7° 37' 23" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 35° 45' 22" N 7° 40' 0" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 35° 45' 55" N 7° 37' 12" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 35° 46' 21" N 7° 37' 0" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 35° 45' 1" N 7° 37' 12" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 35° 45' 20" N 7° 39' 6" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 45' 59" N 16° 28' 0" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 27' 6" N 17° 13' 9" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 31° 30' 47" N 17° 11' 46" W — Piston and trigger core |
Core - soft bottom | 32° 29' 30" N 13° 27' 30" W — Piston and trigger core |