RRS Discovery D176
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | RRS Discovery (74E3) |
| Cruise identifier | D176 |
| Cruise period | 1988-07-22 — 1988-08-22 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Lisbon, Portugal |
| Port of return | Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | 1. To recover sediment trap and Bathysnap moorings previously laid in the Porcupine Seabight.
2. To attempt to recover a amphipod trap at the EEC Site. 3. To carry out biological, chemical and physical investigations at the BIOTRANS Site to study the flux of particles throughout the water column. These investigations to include:- (a) Sediment trap moorings to assess the sedimentation rate of particles, and to provide material for biological and chemical analysis. (b) In situ particle counting to profile particle size distribution throughout the water column. This should enable the assessment of mass particle concentration. (c) Large volume filtration systems to provide material for chemical analyses. (d) Net collection of plankton and micronekton to assess their vertical distribution, diel migrations, and role in trophic transformations and vertical transport of particulate carbon. (e) Collection of surface sediments for biological and chemical analyses. (f) Assessment of phytoplankton and bacterial biomass in the euphotic zone, with measurements of flagellate grazing potential. |
| Chief scientist | Harry Elderfield (University of Cambridge Department of Earth Sciences) |
| Cruise report |  (0.87 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | North West Atlantic Ocean (limit 40W) |
| Specific | Central Atlantic, 26 08 20N;044 49 40W |
| Track charts |  |
| Measurements | |
| Physical oceanography | |
| CTD stations | Quantity: number of stations = 12 |
| Subsurface temperature and salinity measurements | Quantity: number of samples = 9 |
| Current meters | Quantity: number of deployments = 5 Description: 5 deployed;15 days |
| Chemical oceanography | |
| Other dissolved gases | Quantity: number of samples = 25 |
| Phosphate | Quantity: number of samples = 30 |
| Silicate | Quantity: number of samples = 150 |
| Trace elements | Quantity: number of samples = 200 |
| Radioactivity | Quantity: number of samples = 25 |
| Isotopes | Quantity: number of samples = 25 |
| Contamination | |
| Trace metals | Quantity: number of samples = 200 |
| Geology and geophysics | |
| Dredge | Quantity: number of deployments = 3 |
| Core - soft bottom | Quantity: number of cores = 7 |
