RRS Discovery DY094
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | RRS Discovery (74EQ) |
| Cruise identifier | DY094 |
| Cruise period | 2018-10-16 — 2018-11-09 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Santos, Brazil |
| Port of return | Santos, Brazil |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | On the 20th October 2018 the Royal Research Ship (RRS) Discovery sailed to the Rio Grande Rise in the South Atlantic, 1400 km east of Brazil, to investigate cobalt-rich mineral deposits of interest to potential deep-sea mining.
The expedition used robotic vehicles, moored scientific instruments, and novel sampling methods to study the environment that deep-sea mineral deposits form in. Of special interest are crusts of iron and manganese that are rich in cobalt and other metals, critical to moder technology. Two of these in particular are critical to any future efforts for renewable energy: cobalt and tellurium. Cobalt is essential in rechargeable batteries that are needed if we are to move to electric vehicles. Tellurium is essential for high-efficiency solar-electric power generation. Although our work is focused on the potential of deep-sea mineral deposits and possible mining, the results could help reduce our dependence on environmentally damaging carbon-based energy. Our aim was to study their geological evolution, over tens of millions of years, and the processes that affected the formation of these mineral deposits. Our team includes biologists that are studying the vulnerability of deep-sea fauna to disturbances that would arise if the sites were mined. The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Autosub6000 was launched from RRS Discovery to map the Rio Grande Rise in extraordinary detail. Using high-resolution sidescan sonar, the seafloor was mapped with sufficient detail to see rocks and boulders a few tens of centimetres across. The AUV created black and white acoustic images of the seafloor showing where the mineral deposits are located. Once we mapped the area, high definition video cameras on the remotely operated vehicle HyBIS were used to explore, sample and photograph features on the seafloor, including a huge rift over 1000m deep, sinkholes and the ancient remains of beaches long since drowned. This expedition was part of the Marine E-tech project, which is an international collaboration between the NOC, British Geological Survey (BGS), HR Wallingford, the UK Universities of Edinburgh, Bath and Leicester, and the Brazilian University of Sao Paulo, and is jointly funded by the governments of the UK and the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. |
| Chief scientist | Bramley J Murton (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton) |
| Cruise report |  (34.70 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | South West Atlantic Ocean (limit 20W) |
| Specific | Rio Grande Rise |
| Track charts | (0.65 MB) |
| Measurements | |
| Geology and geophysics | |
| Dredge | Quantity: number of samples = 6 Description: Sediments from dredge bucket |
| Dredge | Quantity: number of samples = 221 Description: Discrete geological samples of rock |
| Dredge | Quantity: number of samples = 6 Description: Fossil sharks teeth |
| Dredge | Quantity: number of samples = 296 Description: Discrete samples of biological origin |
| Dredge | Quantity: number of samples = 143 Description: Discrete geological samples of ferromanganese crust |
| Dredge | Quantity: number of samples = 1 Description: Fossil trilobite |
| Bottom photography | Quantity: number of dives = 13 Description: HyBIS ROV dives |
| In-situ seafloor measurement/sampling | Quantity: number of samples = 143 Description: Discrete geological samples of ferromanganese crust |
| In-situ seafloor measurement/sampling | Quantity: number of samples = 296 Description: Discrete samples of biological origin |
| In-situ seafloor measurement/sampling | Quantity: number of samples = 221 Description: Discrete geological samples of rock |
| In-situ seafloor measurement/sampling | Quantity: number of dives = 13 Description: HyBIS ROV dives |
| Geophysical measurements made at depth | Quantity: number of dives = 5 Description: AUV Autosub6000 missions |
| Multi-beam echosounding | Quantity: activity duration in hours = 384 Description: Multibeam echosounding |
| Moorings, landers, buoys | |
| Geology and geophysics | |
| Dredge | 29° 9' 10" S 34° 15' 1" W — Glider recovery Station 18, depth 1529m |
| Dredge | 29° 8' 25" S 35° 59' 44" W — Dredge on bottom Station 46, depth 690m |
| Dredge | 29° 19' 3" S 34° 18' 31" W — Dredge on bottom Station 64, depth 697m |
| Dredge | 29° 18' 1" S 34° 18' 5" W — Dredge on bottom Station 63, depth 664m |
| Dredge | 29° 9' 38" S 35° 59' 1" W — Dredge on bottom Station 56, depth 669m |
| Dredge | 29° 19' 9" S 34° 19' 58" W — Dredge on bottom Station 68, depth 600m |
| Dredge | 29° 18' 20" S 34° 15' 56" W — Dredge on bottom Station 62, depth 697m |
| Dredge | 29° 7' 54" S 35° 58' 42" W — Dredge on bottom Station 57, depth 666m |
| Dredge | 30° 59' 57" S 34° 4' 30" W — Dredge on bottom Station 53, depth 925m |
| Dredge | 30° 59' 6" S 34° 3' 26" W — Dredge on bottom Station 52, depth 921m |
| Dredge | 29° 0' 18" S 34° 1' 23" W — Dredge on bottom Station 51, depth 761m |
| Dredge | 29° 7' 0" S 34° 1' 11" W — Dredge on bottom Station 47, depth 815m |
| Dredge | 29° 11' 34" S 34° 2' 7" W — Dredge on bottom Station 35, depth 927m |
| Dredge | 29° 10' 31" S 34° 2' 12" W — Dredge on bottom Station 34, depth 927m |
| Dredge | 29° 20' 12" S 34° 16' 30" W — Dredge on bottom Station 28, depth 632m |
| Dredge | 29° 11' 7" S 34° 1' 28" W — Dredge on bottom Station 24, depth 682m |
| Dredge | 29° 10' 43" S 34° 1' 53" W — Dredge on bottom Station 23, depth 797m |
| Dredge | 29° 9' 45" S 34° 1' 45" W — Dredge on bottom Station 22, depth 851m |
| Dredge | 29° 21' 18" S 34° 15' 19" W — Dredge on bottom Station 17, depth 699m |
| Dredge | 29° 20' 28" S 34° 14' 21" W — Dredge on bottom Station 16, depth 703m |
| Dredge | 29° 18' 52" S 34° 15' 20" W — Dredge on bottom Station 12, depth 682m |
| Dredge | 29° 9' 54" S 34° 1' 47" W — Dredge on bottom Station 41, depth 682m |
| Core - soft bottom | 29° 13' 1" S 34° 5' 42" W — Gravity Core on bottom Station 5, depth 1430m |
| Core - soft bottom | 29° 13' 0" S 34° 11' 32" W — Gravity Core on bottom Station 4, depth 1459m |
| Core - soft bottom | 29° 14' 52" S 34° 8' 41" W — Gravity Core on bottom Station 3, depth 1459m |
| Core - soft bottom | 29° 15' 43" S 34° 2' 51" W — Gravity Core on bottom Station 43, depth 1402m |
| Core - soft bottom | 29° 15' 44" S 34° 2' 49" W — Gravity Core on bottom Station 42, depth 1407m |
| Bottom photography | 29° 0' 48" S 34° 3' 31" W — HyBIS Dive on bottom Station 40, depth 927m |
| Bottom photography | 29° 2' 31" S 34° 5' 53" W — HyBIS Dive on bottom Station 39, depth 1410m |
| Bottom photography | 29° 10' 31" S 34° 2' 35" W — HyBIS Dive on bottom Station 33, depth 984m |
| Bottom photography | 29° 15' 45" S 34° 2' 50" W — HyBIS Dive on bottom Station 32, depth 1388m |
| Bottom photography | 29° 16' 58" S 34° 17' 31" W — HyBIS Dive on bottom Station 67, depth 671m |
| Bottom photography | 29° 18' 55" S 34° 14' 54" W — HyBIS Dive on bottom Station 61, depth 710m |
| Bottom photography | 29° 14' 36" S 34° 1' 7" W — HyBIS Dive on bottom Station 55, depth 1327m |
| Bottom photography | 29° 8' 45" S 34° 0' 13" W — HyBIS Dive on bottom Station 27, depth 684m |
| Bottom photography | 29° 9' 17" S 34° 2' 21" W — HyBIS Dive on bottom Station 1, depth 1152m |
| Bottom photography | 30° 59' 33" S 34° 1' 58" W — HyBIS Dive on bottom Station 50, depth 873m |
| Bottom photography | 29° 14' 56" S 34° 8' 40" W — HyBIS Dive on bottom Station 1, depth 1457m |
| Bottom photography | 29° 19' 16" S 34° 16' 40" W — HyBIS Dive on bottom Station 14, depth 686m |
| Bottom photography | 29° 18' 28" S 34° 14' 37" W — HyBIS Dive on bottom Station 9, depth 965m |
| Bottom photography | 30° 59' 59" S 35° 44' 47" W — HyBIS Dive on bottom Station 45, depth 714m |
| Multi-beam echosounding | 29° 18' 7" S 34° 14' 4" W — Multibeam Survey start |
| Multi-beam echosounding | 29° 18' 7" S 34° 23' 7" W — Multibeam Survey end |
| Long/short range side scan sonar | 30° 58' 57" S 34° 3' 5" W — AUV deployment station 31 |
| Long/short range side scan sonar | 29° 16' 58" S 34° 16' 37" W — AUV deployment station 54 |
| Long/short range side scan sonar | 29° 19' 50" S 34° 17' 24" W — AUV deployment station 15 |
| Long/short range side scan sonar | 29° 11' 24" S 35° 59' 43" W — AUV deployment station 25 |
| Long/short range side scan sonar | 29° 1' 28" S 35° 49' 9" W — AUV deployment station 44 |
| Magnetic measurements | 29° 16' 58" S 34° 16' 37" W — AUV deployment station 54 |
| Magnetic measurements | 29° 19' 50" S 34° 17' 24" W — AUV deployment station 15 |
| Magnetic measurements | 30° 58' 57" S 34° 3' 5" W — AUV deployment station 31 |
| Magnetic measurements | 29° 1' 28" S 35° 49' 9" W — AUV deployment station 44 |
| Magnetic measurements | 29° 11' 24" S 35° 59' 43" W — AUV deployment station 25 |
