MARIA S. MERIAN MSM22

Cruise MSM22 is a joint effort of the Kiel Collaborative Research Centre SFB 754 ”Climate - Biogeochemistry Interactions in the Tropical Ocean“, of the BMBF joint projects NORDATLANTIK/RACE and SOPRAN as well as of the German-French Cooperative Project AWA. Within the framework of the SFB 754, ventilation processes of the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ), including lateral and vertical mixing and oxygen advection as well as the role of zooplankton for oxygen consumption and biogeochemical cycles will be investigated. Another aspect of cruise MSM22 is the study of mesoscale eddies which are generated in the coastal upwelling region off West Africa and then migrate westward. Such eddies are characterized by particular physical and biogeochemical properties that will be further investigated during the cruise. At the equator, the cruise will focus on the equatorial current system, its interannual variability and its role in the zonal transport of heat, freshwater, and oxygen. The main tasks during MSM22 will be the recovery and redeployment of several subsurface moorings, a glider swarm experiment at the southern rim of the OMZ and station work with a CTD/Lowered ADCP/Underwater Vision Profiler (UVP)/Tracor Acoustic Profiling System (TAPS), a microstructure probe and a zooplankton multinet. In addition, underway measurements of upper ocean currents with both shipboard ADCPs and hydrographic measurements with thermosalinograph and pCO2 probe will be performed. During MSM22, three gliders will be deployed and are scheduled for recovery during MSM23.