MARIA S. MERIAN MSM60/1

The cruise MSM60 from Capetown to Montevideo will allow to acquire a basin-wide section across the South Atlantic following the “South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation“ (SAMOC) line, at 34.5°S.
The scientific program consists of full water depth (up to 5200 m) observations using the CTD/O2 rosette system. Full depth currents will be recorded with a lADCP system. The water samples collected with the rosette sampler will be analysed for oxygen, nutrients, carbon, chlorophyll structure, and transient tracers (CFC12 and SF6) content. The sampling and measurements will be performed to the highest standards with the aim to qualify as a GO-SHIP cruise (http://www.go-ship.org/), i.e. be a component of the global repeat hydrography program. An Underwater Vision Profiler (UVP) will be used for particle observations.
The meridional heat and volume flux estimates from the aquired data set over that section will provide a benchmark for the SAMOC geostrophic end-point array. The biogeochemical data can be compared to historic data that have been acquired along the WOCE/GO-SHIP A10 section (30°S). The A10 section was occupied by RV METEOR in 1993 as part of the WOCE program. The cruise is a contribution to the EU H-2020 AtlantOS project. The entire acquired data set is an important contribution to international data acquisition for ocean and climate studies.