MARIA S. MERIAN MSM114

Enclosing near coastal nutrient rich upwelling waters and transporting them into the open ocean, eddies are important for lateral mixing and the transfer of physical and biogeochemical properties, whereat they largely affect biological productivity and organic matter export to the deep-sea floor.

Aim of the cruise MSM114 to the Cape Verde Islands is to resolve organic carbon degradation in deep-sea sediments and its relation to the passage of productive eddies at the sea surface. In order to record a time series of benthic oxygen consumption affected by the elevated deposition of particulate organic carbon during the passage of an eddy, the Deep-Sea ROVER Panta Rhei was placed at the seafloor in a water depth of 3,300 m at the 3rd July 2022 during the RV METEOR expedition M182. This underwater vehicle will repeatedly conduct oxygen flux measurements in benthic chambers for several months. Additionally, a benthic lander was deployed to measure the deposition of particulate organic carbon on the seabed using a sediment trap and to record the current regime. The ROVER and the lander continuously take photographs of the deep-sea floor. Half a year after the DSR and the lander have been deployed, both devices shall be recovered during the expedition MSM114. In addition, measurements of physical properties of the water column will be carried out and the
seafloor section along which the ROVER conducted the oxygen flux measurements will
be visually mapped using the towed camera system OFOS (Ocean Floor Observation System). During the transit, meteorological measurements will be conducted.
This cruise concludes the measurement campaigns M156 (July/Aug. 2019), M160 (Nov./Dec. 2019), M182 (June/July. 2022) of the projects MOSES und REEBUS.