RRS Discovery D248
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | RRS Discovery (74E3) |
| Cruise identifier | D248 |
| Cruise period | 2000-07-08 — 2000-08-10 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Govan, United Kingdom |
| Port of return | Southampton, United Kingdom |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | A multidisciplinary study of the environment and ecology of deep-water coral ecosystems and associated seabed facies and features in the N.E. Atlantic Ocean (The Darwin Mounds, Porcupine Bank and Porcupine Seabight). Leg 1 focused on the ecology of the Darwin Mounds area with seabed photographic surveys, coring and trawling. Leg 2 undertook a detailed geological study of the same area using piston coring and side-scan sonar surveys, before studying carbonate mounds and coral communities on the Porcupine Bank and in the northeastern part of the Porcupine Seabight. |
| Chief scientist | Douglas G Masson (Southampton Oceanography Centre), Paul A Tyler (University of Southampton School of Ocean and Earth Science) |
| Project | Atlantic Coral Ecosystem Study (ACES) |
| Coordinating body | European Commission (University of Tubigen) |
| Cruise report |  (2.39 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | North East Atlantic Ocean (limit 40W) |
| Specific | Rockall Trough, Darwin Mounds, Porcupine Bank, Porcupine Seabight (NE) |
| Track charts | (0.26 MB) |
| Measurements | |
| Physical oceanography | |
| Water bottle stations | Quantity: number of stations = 2 Description: Total water column casts (c.1000m depth). Water bottle samples 5m and 150m above seabed. |
| CTD stations | Quantity: number of stations = 2 Description: Total water column casts (c.1000m depth). Water bottle samples 5m and 150m above seabed. |
| Contamination | |
| Suspended matter | Quantity: number of stations = 7 Description: Stand alone pumps for large volume filtration of particulate material |
| Biology and fisheries | |
| Zoobenthos | Quantity: number of stations = 12 Description: Multiple corer (SMBA) for meiobenthos |
| Zoobenthos | Quantity: number of stations = 4 Description: Agassiz trawl for megabenthos |
| Zoobenthos | Quantity: number of stations = 39 Description: Box curer (USNEL) for macrobenthos, coral and giant protozoans (xenophyophores) |
| Geology and geophysics | |
| Dredge | Quantity: number of stations = 1 Description: Rock dredge |
| Core - soft bottom | Quantity: number of stations = 22 Description: Piston corer 3-9m barrel length on sand mounds, pockmarks and other seabed features |
| Bottom photography | Quantity: number of stations = 20 Description: Drifting vieo and still camera on conducting cable, 1-5m above seabed, c.3hrs for each station. Faunal and seabed feature surveys. |
| Long/short range side scan sonar | Quantity: activity duration in hours = 103 Description: 100/410 KHz sidescan sonar surveys showing seabed mounds, trawl tracks and other features |
| Moorings, landers, buoys | |
| Physical oceanography | |
| Transparency (eg transmissometer) | 59° 49' 59" N 7° 19' 59" W — Optical (transmissometer) recorder c.1m above seabed on top of sand mound c.5m high. Deployed 11 July, recovered 31 July 2000. |
| Current meters | 59° 49' 59" N 7° 20' 59" W — Current meter 1m above seabed in area downstream of sand mound. Deployed 12 July, recovered 31 July 2000. |
| Current meters | 59° 49' 59" N 7° 19' 59" W — Current meter 1m above seabed in area upstream of sand mound. Deployed 11 July, recovered 31 July 2000. |
| Current meters | 59° 49' 0" N 7° 20' 59" W — Current meter 1m above seabed in area downstream of sand mound. Deployed 12 July, recovered 31 July 2000. |
| Geology and geophysics | |
| Bottom photography | 51° 27' 0" N 11° 45' 0" W — Time lapse photography on coral mound. Deployed 08 August 2000. |
| Bottom photography | 59° 49' 59" N 7° 19' 59" W — Time lapse photography on sand mound. Deployed 12 July, recovered 31 July 2000. |
| Data held at BODC | |
| Discrete samples | |
| 2 CTD frame plus rosette sampler | Dissolved oxygen parameters in the water column Salinity of the water column Temperature of the water column Raw light meter output Raw fluorometer output Raw suspended particulate material concentration sensor output |
