RRS James Cook JC192

Cruise summary report

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Cruise Info.

Ship name (ship code)

RRS James Cook (740H)

Cruise identifier

JC192

Cruise period

2020-03-09 — 2020-03-28

Status

Completed

Port of departure

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

Port of return

Southampton, United Kingdom

Purpose

Research

Objectives

The purpose of RRS James Cook cruise JC192 was to refurbish the RAPID 26°N array of moorings that span the Atlantic from the Bahamas to the Canary Islands. The cruise started in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Monday 9th March 2020 and ended on Saturday 28th November at Southampton, UK. The moorings are part of a purposeful Atlantic wide array that observes the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and the associated heat and freshwater transports. The RAPID-MOCHA-WBTS array is a joint UK- US programme. During JC192 moorings were serviced at sites: EBH4, EBH4L, EBH3, EBH2, EBH1, EBH1L, EBHi, EB1, EB1L. Sites with suffix ‘L’ denote landers fitted with bottom pressure recorders. Two Pressure Inverted Echo Sounder (PIES) landers were deployed for NOAA AOML. Moorings were equipped with instruments to measure temperature, conductivity and pressure, and a number of moorings were also equipped with current meters and/or oxygen sensors. The ABC Fluxes project extends the measurements on the RAPID 26°N array to include biological and chemical measurements. CTD stations were conducted throughout the cruise for purposes of providing pre- and post- deployment calibrations for mooring instrumentation (including oxygen and carbonate chemistry sampling) and for testing mooring releases prior to deployment. Shipboard underway measurements were systematically logged, processed and calibrated, including: surface meteorology, 5m depth sea temperatures and salinities, water depth, and navigation. Water velocity profiles from 15 m to approximately 800 m depth were obtained using two vessel mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (one 75 kHz and one 150 kHz).

Chief scientist

Ben I Moat (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton)

Cruise report

(58.95 MB)

Ocean/sea areas

General

North Atlantic Ocean

Measurements

Physical oceanography

Surface measurements underway (T,S)

Quantity: activity duration in days = 12
Description: Underway measurement were made of meteorological variables (wind speed and direction, air temperature and humidity, surface pressure and irradiance); surface (5m) temperature and salinity; subsurface currents from 150kHz and 75 kHz ADCPs and bathymetry from single and multi-beam echo sounders.

CTD stations

Quantity: number of stations = 10
Description: CTD stations, vertical profiles of conductivity, temperature, pressure and oxygen. Samples were taken for calibration of salinity and oxygen

Current profiler (eg ADCP)

Chemical oceanography

Oxygen

Quantity: number of stations = 10
Description: CTD stations, vertical profiles of conductivity, temperature, pressure and oxygen. Samples were taken for calibration of salinity and oxygen

Carbon dioxide

Quantity: number of stations = 1
Description: On selected CTD stations samples were taken and stored for later analysis of dissolved inorganic carbon, and total alkalinity

Phosphate

Quantity: number of stations = 1
Description: On selected CTD stations samples were taken and stored for later analysis of inorganic nutrients and organic nitrogen

Total - P

Quantity: number of stations = 1
Description: On selected CTD stations samples were taken and stored for later analysis of inorganic nutrients and organic nitrogen

Nitrate

Quantity: number of stations = 1
Description: On selected CTD stations samples were taken and stored for later analysis of inorganic nutrients and organic nitrogen

Nitrite

Quantity: number of stations = 1
Description: On selected CTD stations samples were taken and stored for later analysis of inorganic nutrients and organic nitrogen

Silicate

Quantity: number of stations = 1
Description: On selected CTD stations samples were taken and stored for later analysis of inorganic nutrients and organic nitrogen

Quantity: number of stations = 1
Description: On selected CTD stations samples were taken and stored for later analysis of dissolved inorganic carbon, and total alkalinity

Meteorology

Incident radiation

Routine standard measurements

Geology and geophysics

Single-beam echosounding

Multi-beam echosounding

Moorings, landers, buoys

Physical oceanography

CTD stations

36° 22' 18" N 13° 32' 17" W — Argo #8585, 0-2000m

CTD stations

23° 44' 48" N 25° 30' 17" W — Argo #8583, 0-2000m