METEOR M84/5

On May 31 the German research vessel METEOR sails from the spanish port of Vigo for the 5th leg of its 84th scientific cruise (M84/5). Aim of the cruise is to investigate the environmental conditions for living and fossil cold water corals in the Bay of Biscay.
For this purpose the scientists use autonomous deep sea laboratories and CTDs to measure chemical and physical characteristics of the bottom waters around the cold water corals at the continental slope. Data from previous cruises show that the corals are able to live within a wide range of temperature, salinity, oxygen content and flow velocity. On the other hand the density of the water seems to be a regulating factor for the distribution of cold water corals. But it's still unknown how it affects the corals exactly.
The second focus of the cruise is the mixture of water masses at the edge of the continental slope in the Bay of Biscay. To investigate these processes the scientists use radiogenic isotops of the element neodymium. They get into the water by erosion and weathering onshore and stay in the water for up to 2000 years. The isotop ratio is typical for the area of origin. So the scientists can reconstruct the way of water masses through the ocean. The working area of cruise M85/5 is espacially interesting because water masses from the Mediterranean flow north along the continental slope in the Bay of Biscay. The data of the Neodymium isotops measurements will allow a reconstruction of intensity and direction of this current in the past.
Chief scientist of cruise M84/5 is Dr Sascha Flögel from IFM-GEOMAR. The cruise ends on June 21, in Brest (France).