CODENET COCCOLITHOPHORID ECOLOGY CRUISE

      Basic plan and schedule

      Lisbon June 1999, organisers Mario Cachao, Anabela Oliviera, Hanno Kinkel, Jeremy Young

      Selected Area and Proposed Station Locations
      We will be studying the area offshore from Cabo da Roca (NW of Lisbon) - see map.
      This area was selected, since
      • From previous work we know there are reasonably abundant coccolithophores, including most of the CODENET key-species;
      • More or less persistent (moderate) upwelling conditions close to shore occur here at this time of year;
      • With a short transect we can go from nearshore to open ocean conditions;
      • The area is away from the influence of the Tagus turbid plume;
      • We were constrained by the location of the departure harbour and the limited autonomy (aprox. 12-14 hours per day) of the ship.



      If the map is too small click it for a larger version (with no extra detail)

      Proposed schedule
      Taking into account the tides and the maximum speed of the ship, we propose the following:
      Day 12 (Saturday) - reception of the participants
      Day 13 (Sunday) - planning workshop on the Natural History Museum at Lisbon
      Day 14 (Monday) - 1st day cruise (dark triangle 10 stations) over the shelf area across the upwelling front. Departure from Alfeite at 6.00 AM and estimated arrival at Alfeite at 8.00 PM.
      Day 15 (Tuesday) - 2nd day cruise (dark dot 6 stations) from the shelf limit offshorewards. Departure from Alfeite at 6.00 AM and estimated arrival at Alfeite at 8.00 PM.
      Day 16 (Wednesday) - post-cruise workshop
      Day 17 (Thursday) - Departure of the participants

      Brief Explanation
      Our proposal is that in each day a distinct path (near shore in the first day and outer shelf offshore in the second day) is covered to meet everybody requirements (otherwise we don't have enough time to cover both areas).
      SeaWiFS Satellite imagery from this area will be used in order to estimate the existence and extension of the upwelling front. This is being arranged through co-operation with Steve Groom at NERC-Plymouth Marine Laboratory. CZCS satellite imagery is available from previous years. Our proposal is that 5, 30 and 80 m water depths could be sampled. However, since the CTD and nephelometry can be followed in real time the decision to collect water samples at other water depths can be made on ship. The number of stations that we propose should be considered the highest possible number to achieve in the usefull time available to work on ship in each day. Priority will be given to quality over quantity of samples and the actual number of stations may be reduced.
      A core sample set for communal anaysis will be identified during the post-cruise workshop, based on light microscopic review of filters, to identify the most promising samples.

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      Cruise scientific aims, Cruise logistics and participation, Please send comments or corrections to Jeremy Young