2008 report
Progress: 40%
Response to 18 months activity report (X), 24 months (*)
|
Participant |
1 UPMC |
2 AWI |
5 FIMR |
6 Met.no |
7 NPI |
9 UGOT |
17 UiB |
20 IOPAN |
30 AARI |
32 SIO |
|
Report June 2007 |
* |
X* |
X* |
* |
X |
X* |
* |
X |
- |
- |
Partner 1 (UPMC)
In cooperation with the Geophysical Institute of Bergen (Ilker Fer) on board the Hakon Mosby, we deployed a MOPS mooring with a longranger ADCP (75khz), at the Yermak Plateau at the position: 80deg 36.069min N 007deg 15.730minE at 744 m depth on July 25, 2007 at 23.05 GMT. The MOPS is equipped with a CTD profiler (exactly the same type as an ARGO float) and is taking vertical profiles once a day from 500m depth up to 50m depth in addition to vertical current profile collected by the ADCP in the same water column. This mooring will be recovered in about one year time from the time it was deployed.
Another contribution concerns Storfjorden and the routine measurements taken from Vagabond frozen in ice at Inglefieldbukta for the third year in a row. Basically the data collected this year concerns CTD profiles taken form the fast ice within 100m water depth in Storfjord at the latitude of Inglefieldbukta mainly for observing brines formation and brines enriched shelf waters and also the meteorological parameters all year around. Vagabond just started a fourth winter at the same position and we are negotiating a fifth winter eventually. Since Tara is going to leave the Arctic
Ocean (crossing Fram Strait) before the end of this year, most of the scientific equipments used on board Tara will be transferred to Vagabond. That includes the atmospheric tethersonde, the CTD for ocean casts and possibly the radiometers and the EM 31. Also Vagabond will certainly be used for a lot of High Tech tests concerning gliders, AITP and ULS floats. This will be discussed in Oslo during the Damocles General Assembly.
Partner 2 (AWI):
During the Polarstern expedition to the Arctic (ARK XXII/2; 28.7 to 7.10.07) samples were collected for Barium analyses and for REE in dissolved and particulate form and in sea ice sediments. 234Th was analyzed as a measure of export production. The short-lived Radium isotopes 224Ra and 223Ra in surface waters were measured on-board ship with RaDeCC counters. The distribution of 224Ra can be regarded as an analogue of the distribution of its parent 228Ra, in important tracer of shelf-basin interaction. The high 224Ra activities on our easternmost stations at the edge of the Canada Basin and the much lower values in the region of the Laptev shelf suggest that the source of the mid-Arctic 228Ra is not in the Laptev Sea but must be found in coastal areas further east. A new PhD student Tobias Roeske started Jan 1, at AWI to work with rare earth elements. Prof. Brad Moran (Univ. Rhode Island) stayed two months at AWI as guest scientist with the main goal to prepare a joint project during ARK XXII/2 on Pa and Th isotopes.
Partner 5 (FIMR):
The Eurasian (Barents, Kara & Laptev Sea) shelves and slopes were studied on the DAMOCLES/SPACE expedition with RV Polarstern. The Fram Strait and the Barents Sea branch characteristics were observed and the interactions between the branches were studied at the slope and in the interior of the basins. The data are presently being evaluated. Special attention is given to find the causes for the reduction in temperature and salinity in the boundary current between the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea slopes. Another topic is to search for evidence of deep sinking boundary plumes on the slope north of the Kara Sea and north of Severnaya Zemlya.
Partner 6 (Met.No):
Due to harsh weather conditions, the MMP current profiler north of Spitsbergen could not be recovered. This unfortunate situation arose because of two things 1) the planned ship for recovery - the Maria Merian - had engine trouble so the original recovery cruise was cancelled, and 2) the subsititute ship arrived at the site too late in the season such that thick ice was already covering the site. We will do what is possible to ensure that the mooring is recovered as soon as possible in 2008.
Partner 9 (UGOT): 10% progress.
The preparations for an expedition to the Siberian shelves in summer 2008 “A Nordic Land-Shelf-Basin Interaction Study along the Siberian Shelf Seas” are well under way. The logistic support for the cruise was funded by Swedish agencies sin spring this year and the Swedish Polar Secretariat has agreed to be responsible for the logistic organization. During a planning meeting in Stockholm Jun. 6, 2007, with participation of project scientist and representatives from Swedish Polar Secretariat, various logistic issues were discussed and a time plan for the further preparations was established. All the Swedish scientific groups have now also achieved funding for the scientific part of the program. During a recent planning meeting in Stockholm Sept. 15 we decided to make the expedition as a one ship operation using a Russian ship. The cruise plan involves several transects across the Siberian shelf from the river mouths and across the shelf slope. The expedition will involve 30 scientists including a strong Russian scientific group of about 15 members.
Partner 17 (UiB) : 40% progress.
A sustainable new system for trawl-proof frame is designed, constructed and deployed at the Storfjorden sill (R.V. Håkon Mosby, 21 July 2007) and at the shelf-break off Sørkapp of Spitzbergen (R.V. Lance, 30 May 2007). The system at the shelf-break is the first deployment and recovery/re-deployment is planned in summer 2008. The system at the sill has been maintained since late 2003 and the data from the first year of deployment was previously reported in D3.2-3. The sill system was recovered and the data were retrieved prior to re-deployment in July. The system was unfortunately damaged by a trawler and as a result the system stopped logging data early in May 2007. A data report is being prepared for current measurements at the sill covering the period September 2003 – August 2006 (D3.2-6).
Partner 20 (IOPAN):
CTD data from Arctic cruise in 2006 has been analysed and publications are under preparation. The final cruise data has been transferred to DAMOCLES database. Measurements performed by means of the LADCP provide very interesting material together with CTD profiles. The measured flow structure is close to what is obtained from the baroclinic calculations.
Results from IO PAS Arctic cruise has been presented at several meetings: “Arctic Science Summit Week”, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA, March 14 - 21; “Working Group of Oceanic Hydrography (ICES)”, Goteborg, Sweden, March 26 - 31; "European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2007” Vienna, Austria, April 15 – 20, 2007 and on the “5th Study Conference of BALTEX”, Kuressaare, Saaremaa, Estonia, 4-8 June 2007. An article for Geophysical Research Letters "Propagation of the warm signal towards the Arctic Ocean" has been written.
The IO PAS Arctic activity in 2007 including the IO PAS Arctic summer cruise in June-August 2007 has been prepared. Additionally, some preparation for IO PAS participation in NABOS/CABOS cruise in 2007 was made including ordering an MMP equipment for DAMOCLES moorings on the Laptev Sea. 15% progress
