SONNE SO208/2

The 208th expedition of German Research Vessel SONNE (SO208, 15 July – 29 August 2010) is part of the project PLUMEFLUX which aims to study the distribution of Galápagos plume material in the equatorial eastern Pacific. The cruise starts on Thursday 15 July 2010 in Caldera (Costa Rica). During the first leg (chief scientist: Dr. Reinhard Werner, IFM-GEOMAR) the scientists examine deep sea volcanoes off the coast of Central America. The aim is to determine whether these seamounts are “off-axis” seamounts of the East Pacific Rise or developed due to intra plate volcanism. On 27 July 2010 R/V SONNE returns to the port of Caldera for a short stopover. Working area of the 2nd leg (chief scientist: Prof. Dr. Kaj Hoernle, IFM-GEOMAR) is the region north and north east of the Galapagos-Islands. There the Galápagos plume and the Cocos-Nazca-Spreading Center (CNS), a mid-ocean ridge between the Cocos Plate and the Nazca-Plate, lie very close to each other. Rock sampling along several cross-sections vertical to the CNS by drilling using the Rockdrill 2 System of the British Geological Survey aims to investigate the plume-ridge interaction. Furthermore the biology of the deep sea is studied. The 2nd leg of SO208 ends on 29 August 2010 at Guayaquil (Ecuador).