POSEIDON POS530

Decaying munition shells are a threat to the environment because toxic substances as TNT, ADNT, Hg and Pb are released into sediments and the water. The aim of this cruise is to test sampling and analyzing best-practice strategies developed in the UDEMM project and perform the first scientifically sound monitoring survey along the German Baltic coast. Mapping technology comprising high-resolution multibeam and AUV-based optical mapping will be employed to detect and locate munition on the seafloor. These locations will be sampled by divers. In addition, real-time water current monitoring as well as larger-scale oceanographic modelling will provide the most likely distribution pattern for dissolved and particulate contaminants and thus enable to set up the best possible sampling strategy. TNT and its derivatives will be analyzed directly in the water and within the sediment. Blue mussels will be used as bio-indicators showing if and to which extent contaminants enter the food chain.