SONNE SO287

Area:
Western tropical North Atlantic
Time:
11.12.2021 - 11.01.2022
Institution:
GEOMAR
Chief scientist:
Birgit Quack

GEOMAR will answer fundamental questions about marine biogeochemical
pathways of carbon, nutrients and halogens under climate change during the
expedition SO287-CONNECT. Unknown processes, such as halogen release by
Sargassum seaweed and its possible contribution to carbon cycling, the
influence of ship emissions on marine trace gas production and the
contribution of trans-Atlantic micro- and macro plastics to biogeochemical
cycles will also be addressed. GEOMAR will investigate the spatial
connectivity between the productive Eastern and the Western Tropical North
Atlantic along the North Equatorial Current. SO287-Connect will bolster our
understanding of the coupling of biogeochemical and ecological processes and
their influence on atmospheric chemistry under increasing anthropogenic
pressures, from the upwelling zones off Africa into the Sargasso Sea and
further to the Caribbean and the Pacific.