RRS Discovery D261
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | RRS Discovery (74E3) |
| Cruise identifier | D261 |
| Cruise period | 2002-04-01 — 2002-04-14 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Southampton, United Kingdom |
| Port of return | Southampton, United Kingdom |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | The cruise focused on changes in the microbial community structure, dynamics and processes in key biogeomes from the English Channel to the area off the shelf break in the North East Atlantic. The cruise was part of the five year (2001 - 2006) NERC PML Core Strategic Research Project on Microbially Driven Biogeochemistry (MDB).
The cruise focused on the following aims (from MDB): How does the composition of the autotrophic and heterotrophic community affect carbon cycling and ecosystem stability? How does nutrient supply influence carbon flux and trace gas production? What factors determine the air-sea flux of climate-active gases? Integration of regional studies and extrapolation to larger space and time scales. |
| Chief scientist | Carol Turley (Plymouth Marine Laboratory) |
| Project | Microbially Driven Biogeochemistry |
| Coordinating body | PML (NERC) |
| Cruise report |  (1.54 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | English Channel Celtic Sea North East Atlantic Ocean (limit 40W) |
| Specific | English Channel; shelf edge off NE Atlantic (Celtic Sea) |
| Track charts | (1.17 MB) |
| Measurements | |
| Physical oceanography | |
| Surface measurements underway (T,S) | Quantity: activity duration in days = 12 Description: Underway TSG |
| CTD stations | Quantity: number of profiles = 40 Description: CTD casts - press, temp, sal, fluorescence, OBS, attenuance, PAR, oxygen |
| Optics (eg underwater light levels) | Quantity: number of profiles = 19 Description: Satlantic freefall optical profiler |
| Optics (eg underwater light levels) | Quantity: number of profiles = 39 Description: Optics rig deployed - FRRF in profiling mode, AC-9, VSF, CTD, optical radiometers |
| Chemical oceanography | |
| Oxygen | Quantity: number of profiles = 10 Description: CTD bottle dissolved oxygen |
| Nitrate | Quantity: number of profiles = 17 Description: CTD bottle nitrate |
| Nitrate | Description: Non-toxic nutrients |
| Nitrite | Quantity: number of profiles = 17 Description: CTD bottle nitrite |
| Nitrite | Description: Non-toxic nutrients |
| Ammonia | Quantity: number of profiles = 10 Description: CTD bottle ammonia and urea (8 casts) |
| Silicate | Description: Non-toxic nutrients |
| Silicate | Quantity: number of profiles = 16 Description: CTD bottle silicate |
| Isotopes | Quantity: number of profiles = 7 Description: CTD bottle oxygen isotope measurements and dissolved O2/Ar |
| Isotopes | Quantity: number of stations = 6 Description: Oxygen isotope, O2/Ar incubations |
| Other chemical oceanographic measurements | Quantity: number of samples = 200 Description: Halocarbons |
| Contamination | |
| Trace metals | Quantity: number of stations = 5 Description: Incubations for cycling of Cd, Mn and Zn by phytoplankton and bacterioplankton |
| Trace metals | Quantity: number of stations = 3 Description: Long-term zinc incubations, including measurements of total and labile dissolved Zn, tracemetal uptake, bacterial numbers, bacterial diversity, bacterial production and complexing capacity |
| Biology and fisheries | |
| Primary productivity | Quantity: number of stations = 9 Description: Incubations for ETS, DCR, gross production, net community production. |
| Primary productivity | Quantity: number of samples = 4 Description: Non-toxic-electron transport system activity (ETS) and dark community respiration (DCR). |
| Primary productivity | Quantity: number of stations = 6 Description: Urea production incubations |
| Primary productivity | Quantity: number of stations = 22 Description: CTD bottle photosynthesis-irradiance curves and absorption coefficients of particulates |
| Primary productivity | Quantity: number of stations = 7 Description: 14C primary production incubations |
| Primary productivity | Quantity: number of stations = 7 Description: Ammonium regeneration incubations |
| Primary productivity | Quantity: number of stations = 7 Description: Size-fractionated 15N uptake incubations |
| Phytoplankton pigs (eg chlorophyll, fluorescence) | Quantity: number of samples = 30 Description: Underway pump HPLC pigments |
| Phytoplankton pigs (eg chlorophyll, fluorescence) | Quantity: number of profiles = 8 Description: CTD bottle size-fractionated chlorophyll |
| Phytoplankton pigs (eg chlorophyll, fluorescence) | Quantity: number of stations = 19 Description: CTD bottle HPLC pigments |
| Phytoplankton pigs (eg chlorophyll, fluorescence) | Quantity: activity duration in days = 12 Description: Underway fluorescence |
| Particulate organic matter (inc POC, PON) | Quantity: number of stations = 22 Description: CTD bottle suspended particulate matter (SPM) and particulate organic carbon (POC) measurements |
| Dissolved organic matter (inc DOC) | Quantity: number of stations = 22 Description: CTD bottle chromophoric dissolved organic material |
| Phytoplankton | Quantity: number of experiments = 1 Description: Phytoplankton degradation experiment - halocarbons, bacteria, pigments analysed. |
| Phytoplankton | Quantity: number of experiments = 1 Description: Production of halocarbons by diatom mat. |
| Phytoplankton | Quantity: number of samples = 255 Description: Phytoplankton samples collected by underway deployment of CytoSub |
| Phytoplankton | Quantity: number of stations = 11 Description: CTD bottles analysed for phytoplankton by flow cytometry and microscopic images |
| Zooplankton | Quantity: number of stations = 8 Description: Microzooplankton grazing experiments and enzyme assay |
| Zooplankton | Quantity: number of stations = 8 Description: Incubation experiments to examine contribution of microzooplankton to copepod diet |
| Zooplankton | Quantity: activity duration in days = 5 Description: Optical plankton counter in continuous underway mode |
| Zooplankton | Quantity: number of profiles = 17 Description: Optical plankton counter in profiling mode |
| Zooplankton | Quantity: number of hauls = 43 Description: Vertical net samples for size-fractionated mesozooplankton biomass by microscopic and OPC analysis |
| Pelagic bacteria/micro-organisms | Quantity: number of stations = 7 Description: CTD bottle bacterial diversity measurements - DNA extraction, amplification of 16S rRNA gene, community profiles determined by DGGE |
| Pelagic bacteria/micro-organisms | Quantity: number of profiles = 10 Description: CTD bottle (and non-toxic sample) bacterial production measurements |
| Other biological/fisheries measurement | Quantity: number of hauls = 7 Description: Molecular analysis of embryonic gene expression in Calanus eggs. |
| Other biological/fisheries measurement | Quantity: number of deployments = 4 Description: SAPs. Genetic control of diapause - pumping to collect Calanus but insufficient samples for analysis. |
| Meteorology | |
| Routine standard measurements | Quantity: activity duration in days = 12 Description: Meteorological package on ship making routine measurements |
| Moorings, landers, buoys | |
| Physical oceanography | |
| Surface drifters/drifting buoys | 49° 45' 0" N 9° 16' 59" W — Argos drifting buoy recovered |
| Surface drifters/drifting buoys | 49° 45' 0" N 10° 1' 59" W — Argos drifting buoy deployed - 15m-long drogue net used |
| Data held at BODC | |
| Discrete samples | |
| 40 CTD frame plus rosette sampler | Transmittance and attenuance of the water column Carotenoid and flavenoid pigment concentrations in water bodies Temperature of the water column Dissolved oxygen parameters in the water column Salinity of the water column Concentration of suspended particulate material in the water column Visible waveband radiance and irradiance measurements in the water column Density of the water column Chlorophyll pigment concentrations in water bodies |
| 24 Sample taken from ship's non-toxic supply | Carotenoid and flavenoid pigment concentrations in water bodies Chlorophyll pigment concentrations in water bodies |
