RRS Challenger CH142
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | RRS Challenger (74CH) |
| Cruise identifier | CH142 |
| Cruise period | 1999-04-19 — 1999-05-19 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Southampton, United Kingdom |
| Port of return | Govan, United Kingdom |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | A two-leg cruise (mid-port call, Galway 6-7 May 1999). Leg 1: To study benthic communities on the Porcupine Abyssal Plain. Leg 2: To study benthic communities in the Porcupine Seabight.
A) To continue time-series sampling of benthic organisms (microbiota to invertebrate megafauna) started in 1989 at a locality centred on 48° 50'N, 16° 30'W. B) To sample other sites at a similar depth, up to 200 nmiles distant, to see how applicable the results at 48° 50'N, 16° 30'W were to the whole Abyssal Plain. C) To image and sample coral communities on large carbonate mounds in the north and northeast of the Porcupine Seabight. D) To sample and image soft-sediment benthos on the Continental Slope. |
| Chief scientist | David S M Billett (Southampton Oceanography Centre) |
| Project | Continuation of BENGAL project but not funded by the EU |
| Cruise report |  (1.98 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | North East Atlantic Ocean (limit 40W) |
| Specific | Porcupine Abyssal Plain; Porcupine Seabight |
| Track charts |  |
| Measurements | |
| Biology and fisheries | |
| Zoobenthos | Quantity: number of stations = 9 Description: Multicorer - Porcupine Abyssal Plain |
| Zoobenthos | Quantity: number of stations = 7 Description: Semi-balloon otter trawls - single warp 8.6m width (14m headline) - Porcupine Abyssal Plain |
| Zoobenthos | Quantity: number of stations = 3 Description: Semi-balloon otter trawls - single warp 8.6m width (14m headline) - Porcupine Seabight |
| Zoobenthos | Quantity: number of stations = 11 Description: Wide area survey photography (WASP) - Porcupine Seabight |
| Zoobenthos | Quantity: number of stations = 1 Description: Epibenthic sledge - photosledge mode - no net, but with video and still cameras |
| Zoobenthos | Quantity: number of stations = 3 Description: Anchor dredge - coral mounds - Porcupine Seabight |
| Zoobenthos | Quantity: number of stations = 5 Description: Multicorer - Porcupine Seabight |
| Zoobenthos | Quantity: number of stations = 2 Description: USNEL box corer - Porcupine Seabight |
| Zoobenthos | Quantity: number of stations = 1 Description: Epibenthic sledge with mesh net, video, still camera |
| Geology and geophysics | |
| Bottom photography | Quantity: number of stations = 11 Description: Wide area survey photography (WASP) - Porcupine Seabight |
| Moorings, landers, buoys | |
| Chemical oceanography | |
| Other chemical oceanographic measurements | 48° 57' 59" N 16° 24' 59" W — Lander - oxygen/DOC/CO2 fluxes across sediment water interface - 2 deplyments: 46 hour and 60 hour |
| Biology and fisheries | |
| Zoobenthos | 48° 58' 59" N 16° 24' 59" W — Bathysnap time-lapse photography deployed - to be recovered in 2000 |
| Zoobenthos | 49° 0' 0" N 16° 12' 59" W — Bathysnap time-lapse photography - recovered - laid on Discovery cruise 231, March 1998 |
| Geology and geophysics | |
| Bottom photography | 49° 0' 0" N 16° 12' 59" W — Bathysnap time-lapse photography - recovered - laid on Discovery cruise 231, March 1998 |
| Bottom photography | 48° 58' 59" N 16° 24' 59" W — Bathysnap time-lapse photography deployed - to be recovered in 2000 |
| In-situ seafloor measurement/sampling | 48° 57' 59" N 16° 24' 59" W — Lander - oxygen/DOC/CO2 fluxes across sediment water interface - 2 deplyments: 46 hour and 60 hour |
