RRS Charles Darwin CD17
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | RRS Charles Darwin (74AB) |
| Cruise identifier | CD17 |
| Cruise period | 1986-10-15 — 1986-11-07 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Muscat, Oman |
| Port of return | Muscat, Oman |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | Principal objectives were to obtain sediment cores from a variety of environments representing (a) shallow water sediments situated above the oxygen minimum layer (b) organic rich sediments situated within the oxygen minimum layer, that is at depths between 200-1800 m and c) hemipelagic/oceanic sediments. For this box cores and piston cores were employed.
Collected material was to be used for: (a) Facies variation of the sediment with respect to the oxygen minimum zone and to distance from likely sediment sources e.g. Indus River and deserts. (b) Diagentic reactions of sediments showing variation in organic matter content and accumulated rate. Theses will be realised by study of both the solid and pore waters of the sediments. c) History of sedimentation of piston cores represent about 200,000 years of accumulation. Here it is envisaged that changes in the accumulation of biogenic and terrigenous constituents will provide evidence for change of monsoonal conditions during glacial and interglacial periods. (d) Changes in the input of man made radionuclides and the mixture of these into the sediments. |
| Chief scientist | N Brian Price (University of Edinburgh Department of Geology) |
| Cruise report |  (1.38 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | Arabian Sea |
| Specific | N. West Indian Ocean |
| Track charts |  |
| Measurements | |
| Physical oceanography | |
| Water bottle stations | Quantity: number of stations = 8 |
| CTD stations | Quantity: number of stations = 8 |
| Chemical oceanography | |
| Oxygen | Quantity: number of stations = 8 |
| Phosphate | Quantity: number of stations = 8 |
| Nitrate | Quantity: number of stations = 8 |
| Silicate | Quantity: number of stations = 8 |
| Trace elements | Quantity: number of stations = 8 |
| Other chemical oceanographic measurements | Quantity: number of stations = 8 Description: particulate matter |
| Geology and geophysics | |
| Core - soft bottom | Quantity: number of cores = 42 Description: box & piston corers; pore water analysis |
| Other geological/geophysical measurements | Description: dust sampling (airborne dust) |
