FS Meteor M42_3
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | FS Meteor (06M3) |
| Cruise identifier | M42_3 |
| Cruise period | 1998-08-25 — 1998-09-23 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Lisbon, Portugal |
| Port of return | Las Palmas, Spain |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | Continuing studies of the Great Meteor Bank on the hydrography and biology of plankton, nekton and benthos organisms
Seamount Ecology 1) Hydrographical and biological data and samples, respectively, taken at stations located along two axes intersecting perpendicular to each other in the centre of the seamount plateau 2) Measurements of physical, chemical and biological gradients taken between the plateau area, the deep sea area and the transition zone. Physical Oceanography 1) Changes in the stratification and current characteristics near and above the Great Meteor-Bank investigated. 2) Numerical models caluculated on the small scale mixing processes 3) Oceanographic parameters measured by two current meter moorings, ADCP, CTD and XBT sections Nutrients, Primary Production, Phytoplankton 1) Inorganic compounds of nitrogen, phosphate, silicate, particulate organic carbon and nitrogen, chlorophyll a, pigments, species composition of phytoplankton, primary production and the fraction of new production measured at 8 different depths between surface and 200 m. Measurements executed with an auto analyser, a HPLC. Meiobenthos 1) Samples collected at each station along both sampling axes on the seamount plateau and at 500, 1000, 2000 and 3000 m depth 2) Gradients of biomass and species composition determined Macrobenthos 1) Large bottom animals belonging to the supra- and epifauna collected from by catch of the bottom trawl fishery 2) Baited traps used to sample invertebrate scavengers inhabiting the seamount plateau 3) Endobenthic organisms collected by application of a Van Veen grab. 4) Van Veen grab and underwater photo probe used to determine macrobenthos densities and to identify distribution patterns and habitat structures at scales from 1 to 100 m 5) Specific benthos study on the settlement of giant sand ripple field. Structural details analysed with echosound systems Zoo-, Cephalopod- and Ichthyoplankton 1) Stations fished using a MOCNESS and a multi plankton net twice a day 2) Distribution and vertical stratification as well as day-night migration patterns of species investigated 3) Study of plankton densities along the rims of the sea mount. Near bottom plankton also collected. 4) Fish larvae selected from plankton samples collected. The nutritional condition of these larvae analysed by RNA/DAN ratios and histological investigations Nekton 1) Species composition, abundance, size, condition, and age of nekton species inhabiting the Meteor Bank studied from catches done with different gears. 2) Selected fish species investigated for their stomach content, liver somatic index, and glycogen as well as fat content of the liver. 3) Liver tissue of some species prepared for molecular genetic studies Communities of planktonic and benthic forminifera at Great Meteorbank 1) Composition of phytodetritus/food from different water depths examined by bottom water filtration and transmission electron microscopy. 2) Organic carbon content of sediment measured and results compared with those from other meio- or macrobenthos sampling sites on Meteorbank and other regions Meteorological station 1) Weather consultation (issuing daily weather forecasts) 2) Meteorological observations and measurements 3) Determination of the net total radiation at sea |
| Chief scientist | Walter Nellen (Hamburg University Institute for Hydrobiology and Fisheries Science) |
| Cruise report |  (0.74 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | North Atlantic Ocean |
| Specific | Great Meteor Bank |
| Track charts | (0.06 MB) |
