prepared present and past flow regime. on contourite drifts west of spitsbergen

EUROFLEETS-2 Cruise Summary Report

PREPARED Present and past flow regime

On contourite drifts west of Spitsbergen

R/V G.O. Sars, Cruise No. 191,

05/06/2014 – 15/06/2014, Tromsø – Tromsø (Norway)

Lucchi R.G., Kovacevic V., Aliani S., Caburlotto A., Celussi M., Corgnati L., Cosoli S. Deponte D., Ersdal E.A., Fredriksson S., Goszczko I., Husum K., Ingrosso G., Laberg

J.S., Lacka M., Langone L., Mansutti P., Mezgec K., Morigi C., Ponomarenko E. Realdon G., Relitti F., Robijn A., Skogseth R., Tirelli V.

June 2014

R/V G.O. Sars, Cruise No. 191, Tromsø – Tromsø, June 05–15, 2014

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TABLE OF CONTENT 1. Summary .................................................................................................................................... 3

2. Research programme/objectives ................................................................................................ 4 2.1 Research scientific background and objectives .................................................................. 4

2.1.1 General scientific background .................................................................................. 4 2.1.2 Specific aims of the project ...................................................................................... 7

2.1 Cruise research program to accomplish specific objectives ............................................... 8

3. Narrative of the cruise ............................................................................................................... 9

4. Data collection ......................................................................................................................... 14 4.1 Underway measurements .................................................................................................. 14

4.1.1 Temperature and salinity from thermosalinograph ................................................ 14 Preliminary results ................................................................................................... 15

4.1.2 Hull mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) .................................... 16 Post processing ......................................................................................................... 18 Preliminary results ................................................................................................... 18

4.1.3 Meteorology ........................................................................................................... 20 The synoptic situation ............................................................................................... 20 Observations from the R/V G.O. Sars ...................................................................... 21

4.2 Conductivity, Temperature and Depth measurements (CTD) .......................................... 23

4.3 Water sampling ................................................................................................................. 32 4.3.1 Water column sampling (Rosette and WP2 net) ....................................................... 32

Preliminary results ................................................................................................... 34 4.3.2 Zooplankton sampling in surface water (Manta net) ................................................ 37

4.4 Moorings’ configuration and deployment ........................................................................ 38 4.4.1 Instruments’ specifications ....................................................................................... 38

Beacon XEOS KILO ................................................................................................. 38 Releaser .................................................................................................................... 38 Currentmeters ........................................................................................................... 42 Conductivity and Temperature sensors .................................................................... 43 Sediment trap ............................................................................................................ 44 Rigging ..................................................................................................................... 45

4.4.2 Moorings’ deployment .............................................................................................. 46 Triangulation and echosounder check ..................................................................... 46

4.5 Acoustic survey ................................................................................................................ 48 4.5.1 Bellsund Drift ........................................................................................................... 48 4.5.2 Isfjorden Drift ........................................................................................................... 49

4.6 Bottom Sampling .............................................................................................................. 50 4.6.1 Box cores .................................................................................................................. 50

Preliminary investigation of sediments .................................................................... 50


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Box core sub-sampling procedure ............................................................................ 57 4.6.2 Calypso piston cores ................................................................................................. 57

Sediment description and shear strength analyses ................................................... 58 Micropaleontological investigation ......................................................................... 60 Preliminary core correlation and stratigraphy ........................................................ 63

5. Data and sample storage / availability ..................................................................................... 65

6. Cruise participants ................................................................................................................... 68

7. Station list ................................................................................................................................ 70

8. Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. 72

9. References ............................................................................................................................... 73

Appendixes Appendix A: CTD and CTD/Rosette sites location map ..................................................... 76 Appendix B: WP2-plankton net location map ..................................................................... 77 Appendix C: Manta-net location map .................................................................................. 78 Appendix D: Moorings location map ................................................................................... 79 Appendix E: Box core location map .................................................................................... 80 Appendix F: Calypso piston cores location map .................................................................. 81 Appendix G: R/V G.O. SARS, survey 2014109 .................................................................. 82 Appendix H: The Prepared and Polar Plastics cruise face book .......................................... 88


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1. SUMMARY (R.G. Lucchi and V. Kovacevic)

The Eurofleets-2 PREPARED cruise was conducted during June 5–15, 2014 on board the Norwegian R/V G.O. Sars to investigate the present and past oceanographic flow regime and patterns around two contourite drifts located in the eastern side of the Fram Strait (south-western margin of Spitsbergen). To achieve the main objective of the project, we plan to use a full range of time scaled measurements, from instantaneous (CTD) and seasonal (moorings) oceanographic measurements, to the recent (Box corer) and geologic (Calypso core) past record.

Good weather and calm sea conditions allowed to fulfil the cruise program and to obtain a high-quality and valuable dataset including: about 2780 km of underway measurements (hull-mounted ADCP and thermosalinograph); 60 CTD sites along 5 main transects; 22 sites for water sampling at different depths for biogeochemical characterization of water masses; 13 meso-zooplankton samplings carried out by vertical hauls (WP2 net) and 20 by horizontal hauls (Manta net) for the study of the present biological productivity of the area; about 120 km of site survey including high-resolution multibeam map and sub-bottom profiles for the identification of current-related structures; 5 Box cores; and 2 Calypso piston cores 19.67 and 17.37 m long with an excellent sediment recovery up to 92%. In addition, 3 moorings were deployed for seasonal measurements of water currents direction and velocity, water mass temperature and salinity and to determine the annual amount of local sediment input.

Preliminary onboard analyses outlined the presence of a cold-oxygenated and low salinity water mass moving in the deep northern part of the Storfjorden Trough under the effect of the Corilis force and tide configuration considerably affecting the velocity and bottom distribution of the cold water mass. The long Calypso cores contain the record of the past 20 ka with an expanded Holocene sequence (over 5 m-thick) that will allow us to obtain very-high resolution palaeoceanographic and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions in the area.

Eurofleets-2 PREPARED and Polar Plastics Scientific Party


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2. RESEARCH PROGRAMME AND OBJECTIVES (R.G. Lucchi and V. Kovacevic)

2.1 Research scientific background and objectives

2.1.1 General scientific background

The study of contourite drifts is useful for the reconstruction of the oceanographic and climate history of continental margins since these sedimentary deposits typically form along the pathways of major bottom currents (Laberg et al., 2005; Rebesco et al., 2008). Contourite drifts are characterized by relatively high and continuous accumulation rates in contrast to adjacent condensed pelagic sequences generating expanded sedimentary sequences suitable for high-resolution detailed palaeo-reconstructions (Knutz, 2008). Contourite drifts are well known throughout the world oceans, occurring anywhere from the abyssal floor to outer shelf settings, and particularly along the continental slope where bottom currents are confined by the Coriolis effect (Faugères and Stow, 2008).

The Fram Strait in the north polar area is the only deep-sea open gate through which water masses are exchanged between the Nord Atlantic and Arctic Oceans (Fig. 2.1). Warm Atlantic

waters forming the West Spitsbergen Current (WSC) are advected northward across the eastern side of the Fram Strait. The warm WSC is responsible for almost ice-free conditions in the west and north Svalbard area during winter, exerting a strong control on Arctic climate (IPCC, 2007). At the same time, cold Arctic waters (East Greenland Current, Fig. 2.1) descend southward across the western side of the Fram Strait contributing to the maintenance of the Greenland ice cap.

It is of climatologic interest to know how these flows changed during geological time scales particularly for the WSC representing the only heat flow conveyed to the Arctic area. According to Eiken and Hinz (1993) bottom currents influenced the sedimentation in the Fram Strait area since the Late Miocene. Their study based on contourites identification through multichannel seismic profiles correlated to DSDP drilling site 344, was confirmed by the recent work of Amundsen et al. (2011) and Sarkar et al. (2011) who identified mounded seismic patterns in the Early Pleistocene sediments off Bellsund Fan and Vestnesa Ridge both attributed to contour currents related sedimentation. Two contourite drifts were identified on the seismic profiles

Figure 2.1: Location Map. A) Bathymetry of the region showing

the main currents. The dashed square indicates the study area (figure shown in the work program). B) Location of A) within the Arctic Ocean (from Jakobsson et al., 2012).


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collected along the western continental margin of the Svalbard Archipelago between 76-78°N, north of the Storfjorden glacial trough (Figs. 2.2, 2.3, Rebesco et al., 2013). The Holocene deposition in the area consists of crudely layered and heavily bioturbated sediments having structural and textural characteristics indicating currents shear sediment transport in nutrient and oxygen-rich depositional environments (Lucchi et al., 2013). The flow structure and water masses properties in the Fram Strait were determined through hydrographic sections and 13-years long time series measurements of current’s velocity, temperature and salinity obtained from a mooring array maintained since 1997 (Fahrbach et al., 2001). The flow regime is highly fluctuating on a sub-annual time scale (c.f. Jonsson et al., 1992; Teigen et al., 2011), but fairly constant in yearly averages. The velocity structure is strongly barotropic from top to the bottom of the water column and the flow is mostly northwards along the entire eastern Fram Strait slope (Beszczynska-Möller et al., 2012).

The vertical flow velocity profile contains two main velocity maxima: one located at sea surface with speed averages over 20 cm/s representing the core of the WSC; and an other located at ca. 1500 m (the depth of the contourite drifts, Fig. 2.2) representing the core of the Norwegian Deep Sea Water (NSDW). The NSDW is a cold (<-0.9°C) and slightly more saline (>34.91) current (Aagaard et al., 1985; Rudels et al., 2000; Langehaug and Falck, 2012), which velocity measured in the mooring located at 10 m above seabed has average values of 8.5±0.2 cm/s with seasonal intensification of the flow (up to 30 cm/s) observed at late winter/early spring. Minor flow’s velocities were recorded at two adjacent moorings located up- and down-slope having near-bottom mean velocities of 5.6±0.2 and 4.2±0.2 cm/s respectively. The enhanced flow velocity and water mass stratification at the depth of the drifts were associated to inflow of dense, cold and saline shelf waters

Figure 2.2: Schematic figure indicating the hypothetic

relationship between the long-term West Spitsbergen Current (WSC) regime and the sub-bottom sediment geometry (after Rebesco et al., 2013). The current regime (coloured patterns) is freely redrawn on the basis of the long-term mean current velocity measured at a moored array located at about 78°50’N (modified from Beszczynska-Möller et al, 2012), while the sediment geometry is taken from a multichannel seismic profile (EG_01A) crossing the Isfjorden Drift south of 77°30’N. The oceanographic and geological cross sections are therefore not coincident on the same transect. The vertical scale of the seismic profile has been converted in depth using the conventional 1500 m/s sound velocity in water. This conceptual diagram helps to portray the mechanism of sediment accumulation in contour current drifts: sediments deposit beneath the local maximum of the northward flowing Norwegian Sea Deep Water (NSDW) episodically fed by dense shelf water plumes. Conversely, reduced deposition occurs beneath the high-velocity WSC shallow core. Contouring labels of the coloured pattern refer to current velocity (cm/s). Site 5 (giant piston core and box core) is also indicated.


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(brine) originating on the large Barents continental shelf, that episodically feed the NSDW (Rebesco et al., in press). Such dense shelf waters are produced during winter through persistent freezing and brine release in the polynyas of the Barents Sea, particularly on the Storfjorden (Quadfasel et al., 1988; Schauer, 1995) or at the central Bank (Quadfasel et al., 1992). The heat loss from surface waters of a shelf basin to the atmosphere triggers convection and ice formation. The consequent brine rejection produces brine-enriched shelf water (BSW), particularly in ice-free regions. The BSW accumulates in the basin that might be enclosed by a sill, like in the case of the Storfjorden, and eventually spills over the sill or finds paths to the deep sea. Upon reaching the shelf edge, the plume of BSW cascades along the continental slope, i.e. descends the continental slope under the combined effects of pressure gradient, frictional and the Coriolis force. This process is thought to be the principal mechanism responsible for initiation of slope convection in the Arctic Ocean contributing significantly to the overall heat and salt balance of the deep Arctic Ocean basins and providing nutrients and ventilation to the deeper environments (Fer et al. 2003). This complex phenomenon is, however, not yet fully understood and merit further investigations. Yet it occurs sporadically in a small scale so it is not easy to detect.

Another important aspect related to brine cascading the continental slope, is the possibility that large volumes of sediments and organic particulate matter can be transported down-slope by the currents. Shelf water plumes often show high turbidity indicating that the high velocities associated with the cascading plume create enough turbulence to erode the sea bottom sediments and/or to prevent sedimentation. The entrainment of re-suspended sediments in the BSW is responsible for further increase of current density that greatly increasing their erosive power while descending the slope. This is the case of the so called TS-turbidites defined by Fohrmann et al. (1998) and Sternberg et al.,

2001 on the continental slope of the Kveithola Trough, adjacent to Storfjorden that deposited by low-temperature, high salinity and turbidity flows.

The presence of suspended sediment is an essential condition for active deposition from bottom currents in oceans. Bottom currents may carry in suspension a considerable amount of fine material and particulate organic matter (McCave, 1985), forming the bottom nepheloid layer (Ewing and Thorndike, 1965). The depositional mechanism inferred for build-up of the Isfjorden

Figure 2.3: Multichannel seismic profile EG_04 crossing

the Bellsund Drift. Location of Site 3 (giant piston core, box core, and mooring) is also shown. Note that in this site the sedimentary section above reflector R1 (blue colour line, estimated about 200 ka old) is more expanded (about 100 milliseconds) than at site 5 (about 80 ms, Fig. 2), suggesting a higher sedimentation rate calculated to be about 37 cm/ka. Thus, the giant piston core may sample sediments as old as about 60 ka.


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and Bellsund drifts is that of plastered drifts growing on the continental slope side (Rebesco et al., in press). In our case study the western slope of Spitsbergen is swept by the surface branch of the West Spitsbergen Current, having velocities that prevent deposition on the eastern side of the contourite drifts and/or erosion in the uppermost part of the continental slope (Fig. 2.2). Conversely, the offshore branch of WSC, focused below about 1400 m depth, shows slower velocities of 9 cm/s or less. These velocities result in deposition directly below the current pathway of the Norwegian Sea Deep Water within the offshore branch of WSC.

2.1.2 Specific aims of the project

The aim of PREPARED is to investigate and define the present and past oceanographic patterns around two contourite drifts located on the eastern side of the Fram Strait (Bellsund and Isfjorden sediment drifts) using a full range of time scales, from instantaneous (CTD) and seasonal (moorings) oceanographic measurements, to the recent (Box corer) and geologic (Calypso core) past record. The project is therefore conceived under a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary view in order to consider the interaction between various components of the Arctic system in this area. Our study area is regarded as a key zone for the reconstruction of the Arctic Ocean circulation, which in turn, plays a key role in the global thermohaline system.

Specific oceanographic objectives are:

- The study of water mass properties through hydrographical sections along key transects (quasi-synoptic CTD measurements over a large area including the deep area close to the Fram Strait);

- The definition of seasonal water mass characteristics and sediment transport over one or more years on a limited area (long-term mooring measurements for the determination of current velocity and direction, water turbidity, oxygen, temperature, and salinity);

- Determination of seasonal depositional rates by deployment of sediment traps around the Bellsund contourite drift;

- Reconstruction of sediment and water masses provenance through bio-geochemical characterization of both water samples and shallow sediments (Box corer and Rosette);

- Connections between the variability of deep water mass characteristics and events of dense shelf water cascading from the Storfjorden shelf;

- Determination of dense water pathway from the shallow cascading area towards the deeper part of the Arctic area through the Fram Strait.

Specific geologic objectives are:

- The definition of a high-resolution, detailed age model for stratigraphic cross correlation still lacking in this area (Calypso piston core). Contourite drifts are particularly suitable for this type of investigation as they usually contain expanded, continuous sequences rich of bioclasts useful for radiometric dating;

- The reconstruction of past climatic changes including minor scale fluctuations within each climate stage (Calypso piston core) with special emphasis to the Holocene (Box cores for the sediment/water interface and recent geological record);


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- Definition of the process of sediment transfer and dispersion on the continental slope from subglacial meltwater outbursts during early deglaciation phases. Interaction between meltwater plumes and thermohaline circulation and impact on primary productivity determined through palaeoenvironmental reconstructions;

- Characterization of bedforms (multi-beam and sub-bottom) by integration of new and pre-existing geophysical data.

2.2 Cruise research program to accomplish specific objectives

The cruise research program included oceanographic, biogeochemical, and geological investigations. The cruise program was re-modulated from its original version taking into account the technical characteristics of the on-board instrumentation (e.g. small-sized Rosette requiring 2 consecutive, time consuming, deployments to accomplish the large water sample volume required among all partners), and the final availability of the oceanographic device necessary for moorings’ setting. Contingent problems with the oceanographic instrumentation happened to Prof. Fer Ilker (University of Bergen) during the cruise preparation, resulted with his withdrawal from the oceanographic cruise. As a consequence, the initially programmed 5 mooring sites were reduced to 3 and we accordingly modified part of the initial configuration of CTD transects (reduced number of transects but higher, mesoscale, resolution).

The PREPARED cruise

acquisition program included (Fig. 2.4): • Underway measurements by

means of the ship-borne Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and thermosalinograph to be undertaken during the whole cruise;

• CTD casts to be performed along 4 hydrographical sections (transects TR1, TR2, TR4, TR6), for the study and reconstruction of water mass configuration and properties in the area at macro- and meso-scale;

• Water samples collected by a Rosette sampler at different depths during the up-cast at 22 sites, for the reconstruction of sediment and water masses

Figure 2.1: Working area and track chart of the R/V G.O. SARS

Cruise 191, Eurofleets-2 PREPARED. Red solid lines indicate the outward track whereas dashed lines refer to return trip. Depth contours: 50, 500, 1500, 2500, 3500 m as dotted brown lines; 100, 200, 300, 400, 1000, 2000, 3000 m solid grey lines.


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characteristics in order to define their provenance though biogeochemical analyses comprising dissolved oxygen determination by Winkler method;

• Meso-zooplankton sampling carried out by vertical hauls (WP2 net) for the study of the biological productivity of the area.

• 5 Box cores located at the moorings’ and Calypso cores’ sites in order to characterize the uppermost part of the sedimentary column and the sediment-water interface, and additional 3 Box cores along transect TR1 focused on the micro-plastics investigation at the sea surface;

• 2 Calypso piston cores collected at the crest of the two identified sediment drifts (Bellsund and Isfjorden Drifts) for the definition of a high-resolution, detailed age model for stratigraphic cross correlation, and the reconstruction of past climatic changes including minor scale fluctuations within each climate stage, with special emphasis for the Holocene interval;

• A seismic survey (Sub-bottom and multibeam) to perform across the mooring’s and Calypso core sites for the morphological characterization of the sea bottom with identification of possible bedforms as indicator of bottom currents, definition of depth, and for a better Calypso long piston core positioning in order to achieve the maximum corer penetration.

We fulfilled the establish objectives. In addition, 1) we extended transect TR6 with supplementary 4 CTD sites ending at the Isfjorden outer mouth, 2) we included the mesoscale CTD transect TR7 located off Hornsund fjord, 3) we additionally run 20 water samples using the OGS horizontal hauls, Manta net, in collaboration and support of the associated Eurofleets-2 student project Polar Plastics, and 4) on the way back to Tromsø, we repeated the CTD transect TR1 at mesoscale resolution in order to map with higher detail the interesting oceanographic configuration observed at the beginning of acquisition in the study area.

3. NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE (R.G. Lucchi and V. Kovacevic)

The scientific party onboard the Norwegian R/V G.O. Sars comprised 24 research scientists forming the PREPARED team; 2 Eurofleets students forming the Polar Plastic Project team; 4 technicians from the University of Bergen and Institute of Marine Research, necessary to run the activities related with the Calypso coring system, CTD measurements and seismic survey; and, for the first time during a Eurofleets cruise, 1 Teacher at See from the EGU-GIFT program (http://www.egu.eu/education/gift/,). Fifteen people formed the crew lead by Captain John Hugo Johnson. Beside of the Norwegian crew, the scientific party included Italian, Croatian, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, Polish, German, Russian, English and Brazilian coming from 11 different European Research Institutions and Universities.

The embarking operation of the equipment for the cruise took place at the city centre harbour during the morning of June 4 under the supervision of a small group of the scientific party. The very first meeting of the PREPARED cruise was organized in a pub of Tromsø the night before the cruise start. The two co-chief scientists delivered some logistical information for the day after and the group familiarized around a beer.


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Maps location of the studied sites are organized in Appendix A÷F, whereas Appendix G contains detailed information of the cruise operations that were automatically recorded onboard the vessel during the cruise through the G.O. Sars survey report navigation tool. In the following we will synthesize the activities undertaken during the cruise especially for those not automatically recorded by the navigation system.

Thursday, 5th of June 2014: The first day.

On the first day, we left the Hotel in Tromsø at 7:45 (local time) in order to be ready to embark on the R/V G.O Sars by 8 am. We spent the morning organizing ourself in the cabins assigned by Captain Johnson and to ensure all the equipment was firmly fixed and organized in the laboratories before the start of the cruise. We left Tromsø at 14:20 (local time) in a sunny and very warm day (26°C) with a completely flat sea.

During the transfer from Tromsø to the study area, the scientific party was introduced to the onboard security procedures and visited the vessel taking knowledge of the onboard facilities. A first meeting took place at 18:00 (UTC time that will be used through out the report from now on if not otherwise specify) in the conference room for scientific party self-introduction, project presentation and remarks on common goals.

At 19:30 the Polar Plastic team started the first ocean surface waters filtering for micro-plastics litter determination that continued all over the night and the following morning. In addition to the two Eurofleets students dedicated to the Polar Plastic Project, the original team was assisted by one marine biologist of the PREPARED group (Dr. V. Tirelli) having developed previous experiences on this topic in the Mediterranean Sea, that was happy to exchange information on the issue adding new experience in the Arctic area.

Friday, 6th of June 2014: Transit to the study area.

Friday was mainly a preparatory day to complete the setup of the on-board laboratories necessary for 1) sediments micropaleontological analysis, 2) ocean surface zooplankton species determination and volume estimation, and 3) biogeochemical analyses of the water samples.

Specific working group meetings were organized on the 3 main on-board research activities: 1) CTD casts, Rosette water sampling and analyses, 2) sediment sampling and seismic survey, 3) moorings set up and deployment. A shifts table was also prepared and discussed by the evening. We suggested a flexible shift table in order to combine each personal principal activity with the necessity to have a minimum number of people available during the 24 h. We assigned a 4+8 shift to the scientific party whereas the two co-chief scientists decided for a 12+12 shift giving the possibility to work with all shifts’ groups. We also generated a scientific party facebook, a sort of poster reporting the photo and name of all cruise participants thought to be a useful tool to quickly learn the name of everybody. We inserted the PREPARED cruise facebook in Appendix H that was extended to include the Captain and crew of the R/V G.O. Sars expedition 191.

During the transfer, the micro-plastics team carried out the surface water analyses using both a filtering pump and the OGS Manta-net used for the first time in the Arctic sea. CTD cast and Rosette were tested in the evening (Station T1, Appendix A and G) before the arrival at the first station (St. 6, transect TR1).


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Saturday, 7th of June 2014: Arrival in the study area.

We started the acquisition at 2 am. Transect TR1 consists of 6 stations SE-NW oriented across the Storfjorden Trough and included CTD profiles with water sampling and Manta-net trawl at every second station. We ended transect TR1 at 11.27 am and moved to station 7, located in the innermost part of transect TR2 running NE-SW along the Storfjorden Trough, orthogonal to transect TR1 (Fig. 2.1).

Station 7 was analysed with CTD, water sampling, and sediment sampling (Box core GS191-01BC). At this site we detected the presence of cold, oxygenated but low salinity bottom waters. The sampled sediment surface had a jelly-like consistency with abundant black tubes of worms. Something similar has been described in the neighbouring Kveithola glacial trough where it was initially associated to evidence of local cold seeps (Hanebuth et al., 2013). As in that study case, the sediments are oxidized in the upper 1-2 cm (dark brown) and appear very-dark gray/black just below this interval with intense bioturbation.

The small size of the Rosette sampler (holding 12 instead of 24 Niskin bottles) and the high volume of water samples required by the PREPARED partners for individual analyses required two consecutive CTD-casts deployments at each water sampling station. The operation along transect TR2 took over the whole day to terminate the morning after. In the meanwhile, the Calypso corer was set with a barrel 21.40 m-long, the piston positioned in the deeper part of the barrel, and the core cutter and catcher mounted in order to have the coring system ready for the day after.

Sunday, 8th of June 2014: Calypso coring day.

The CTD and water sampling operations along transect TR2 finalized at 8:30 am, after which we sailed to the first Calypso coring station BD located at the crest of the Bellsund sediment drift. One hour before the arrival we tested the Kongsberg multi-beam and TOPAS sub-bottom. We realized that multi-beam and sub-bottom surveys could not be run contemporaneously because the TOPAS seismic source would cause background noise affecting the quality of the multi-beam record. The site survey was then obtained with two consecutive orthogonal sections 10 NM-long each across the coring site with velocity of 6 NM for the multi-beam, and 8 NM for the TOPAS.

The seismic survey at site BD was followed by CTD measurements for multi-beam data calibration, and Box corer deployment (core GS191-02BC).

The deployment and recovery of the Calypso corer took over two hours (18-20) and it was attended by the whole scientific party and crew. The sediment recovery was exceptionally good with 19.67 m (about 92% of recovery), being the longest piston core recovered with the R/V G.O. Sars. In the evening we moved to site S1 for the first mooring deployment.

Monday, 9th of June 2014: First mooring deployment.

We arrived at station S1 at approximately midnight. We firstly run the multi-beam survey across site S1, then we bottom sampled the site for subsurface information (Box core GS191-


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02BC). Two attempts of box coring failed to recover any sediment that we interpret as the presence of coarse sediments at the sea bottom.

The mooring deployment at site S1 took approximately a couple of hours (4.00–5.52 am), after which we moved to site 24 for CTD deployment and water sampling. A Manta-net was carried out on transit from S1 to site 24, whereas Plankton-net was performed at site 24 (see Appendix G).

After site 24 we sailed to site 25 located in the North-eastern end of transect TR4, that is composed of 6 sites (25–30). Manta and Plankton-nets were carried out on transit between stations. The operations lasted the whole night.

Tuesday, 10th of June 2014: Midnight sun.

The operations along the CTD transect TR4 finalized at about 1 am, thereafter we moved to the northernmost transect of our program: transect TR6 oriented along the Isfjorden sediment drift. Our first target was the site survey of the two mooring locations ID1 (crest of the drift and Calypso coring site) and ID2 (moat of the drift located upslope with respect to the crest). After the site survey we bottom sampled site ID1 with the Box core (core GS191-04BC) and subsequently, we deployed the Calypso piston corer (core GS191-02PC). Good weather and sea-water conditions allowed another almost full barrel penetration with 17.37 m of sediment recovery (about 81% of recovery).

After the Calypso core retrieve, we sailed to site ID2 for CTD measurements and Box core deployment. We attempted twice to core site ID2: the first attempt failed to recover any sediment except for a smear of coarse sand and silt left in the Box core. At the second attempt we recovered a lag of gravelly-silty-sands with large cobbles of IRD (up to 7 cm across).

After box-coring, we deployed the mooring. This operation took about 1 hour and it was followed by triangulation in order to verify the exact location of the mooring site. The operation ended over midnight and we could enjoy the beauty of the midnight sun in the Arctic.

Wednesday, 11th of June 2014: Italian Day in Tromsø.

After the triangulation for mooring site ID2, we went back to site ID1 for mooring deployment and triangulation. The moving in/out between the two mooring sites ID1 and ID2 was dictated by i) availability of the technicians necessary for some operation (e.g. handle of the crane for Calypso corer deployment) and ii) the necessity to perform sequential analyses in the same site without compromizing the high-quality of the results (e.g. CTD measurements took after coring operation that could be affected by the water turbidity induced by coring). CTD, mooring deployment and triangulation at site ID1 took place early in the morning (2.35–4.30), after which we moved to site 45 located at the south-eastern end of transect TR6 in order to start the measurements of CTD, water sampling, Manta and Pelagic-net along the transect. The data acquisition took over the whole day (details in Appendix G).

The processing of the Calypso core GS191-02PC was postponed to the early afternoon to allow the project coordinator, also involved in the coring processing, to take part through a


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telephonic communication, to the Italian-Norwegian event: Beyond the Arctic Circle, the Italian Day in Tromsø for co-operation in the Arctic Region, organized by the Italian Embassy in Oslo. The telephonic communication took place on the master bridge and it was intended to represent in the meeting a special event, in demonstration of the ongoing collaboration between Italian coordinating and participating to the PREPARED project, and Norwegian as part of the scientific party and owner of the research vessel.

Thursday, 12th of June 2014: Ardo’s Birthday.

The acquisition along transect TR6 finalized at 3.28 am on a sunny day with the beautiful landscape of the outer side of the Isfjorden mouth. The transfer to the mesoscale transect TR7 took approximately 10 hours. In the meanwhile a rescue simulation by helicopter, and the party for Ardo’s birthday for which the two co-chief scientists prepared Italian coffee for the whole group, entertained the scientific party and crew. Parallel to the amusements, a scheme for the scientific report start to be shaped and a form for the expression of interests to work on the PREPARED data set was delivered to the scientific party.

We reached transect TR7 at 14:00 and we ended the mesoscale CTD acquisition at 19.30. Since the transect ended near the mouth of the Hornsund fjord, we decided to move inside to see the modern local glacial configuration. The short visit took approximately 2 hours after which we moved back to transect TR1 for an additional mesoscale CTD acquisition across the Storfjorden trough.

Friday, 13th of June 2014: Last CTD transect.

We arrived to the mesoscale transect TR1 at 2 am. CTD measurements at each site were alternated with box-coring for micro-plastics litter investigation of the sea bottom. Some Box cores failed to recover any sediment. The area appeared to be affected by strong bottom currents (50 cm/sec according to ADCP onboard measurements) that possibly removed the fine-grained sediment fraction so the Box corer could not penetrate the coarse lag of sediments draping the sea floor. The only successful Box core in the area was taken in the south-eastern part of the transect being off the main core of the Storfjorden bottom current. We finalized the cruise acquisitions at 13.40 and start heading toward Tromsø. In the evening we had a meeting to discuss the preliminary results and the preparation of the cruise report.

Saturday, 14th and Sunday 15th of June 2014: Sailing to Tromsø.

The transfer back to Tromsø was very busy for packing the instruments, cleaning the laboratory and writing the report. We arrived in Tromsø at 6.30 am (8.30 local time) at the city centre dock and we started almost immediately part of disembarking.

Monday, 16th of June 2014: End of the cruise.

Very cold day. In the morning we ultimate the instruments and samples disembarking and customs clearances. Most of the scientific party left Tromsø in the afternoon while a small group of us left on the day after.

R/V G.O. Sars, Cruise No. 191, Tromsø – Tromsø, May 05–15, 2014

14

4. DATA COLLECTION

4.1 Underway measurements

4.1.1 Temperature and salinity from thermosalinograph (S. Cosoli and V. Kovacevic)

Near-surface Temperature (T) and Salinity (S) data were continuously collected every 10 seconds using the SBE- 21 Seacat thermosalinograph system onboard the ship, installed at a depth of 6.5 m below water surface, along with fluorescence data at the same sampling depth. T-S and current meter measurements started at the beginning of the cruise, continued while CTD casts and other planned sampling activities were performed, and terminated at the return in Tromso. T-S data files consisted of daily dataset in a standard ascii-formatted Sea-Bird SBE 21 Data File: .cnv file, processed by Seasave V 7.21f. Preliminary consistency checks performed on the T-S data from the thermosalinograph, using T-S data from the CTD casts at the CTD depth closest to the thermosalinograph level, are given in Figure 4.1, and suggest perfect match between the two dataset, as correlation is above 0.99 for both salinity and temperature, and mean biases are within the instrumental accuracy.

Preliminary results

Along-track T-S plots provided in Figure 4.2 show the presence of relatively fresh (S 34.10 - 35.06 PSU) and

warm (T > 7 C) waters. Their salinity and temperature values are gradually increasing and decreasing, respectively, from the Norwegian coastal region offshore Tromso in direction of Bjorn Island, where a front of cold (T < 0˚) and relatively fresh (S ~34.6 PSU) waters was observed. This front is interrupted by a smaller front of saltier and warmer water. This structure was detected both at the beginning of the cruise and during the return to Tromso at the end of the cruise, and is most likely originating from Atlantic waters (warmer and saltier waters) intruding the colder and fresher front of Artic-type waters. Near-surface current data, displayed in both Figure 4.3 and Figure 4.4, support this hypothesis, as this small-scale warm area is associated with a zonal currents directed into the Barents Sea, while the colder front offshore Storfjorden is associated with a zonal outflow from the Barents Sea. To the North, offshore Longyearbyen, near-surface waters have relatively high-salinity (S > 35.1 PSU) and temperatures (T > 4˚), presumably due to the presence of Atlantic-type waters. Temperature and Salinity minima are observed in the coastal strip in correspondence of the Bellsund fjord and in proximity of the Storfjorden area.

Figure 4.1: thermosalinograph data


15

Figure 4.3: Along-track near-surface currents (bin 1, approximate depth 37 m below surface) collected during the first leg of the PREPARED cruise. Data are displayed for the 75 kHz, quality-controlled data set

Figure 4.2. Along-track Temperature-Salinity (T-S) collected during the PREPARED cruise


16

4.1.2 Hull mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) (I. Goszczko and V. Kovacevic)

In order to measure the ocean currents two instruments were used simultaneously during the whole cruise: 150 kHz and 75 kHz RDI Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers - ADCP (Ocean Surveyor). The former allows monitoring the water column of the upper 200-300 m layer, while the latter reaches as deep as 500-600 m. Both instruments are mounted on the keel of the ship (6-8 below the surface). Given by the name, the ADCP uses Doppler effect to measure relative motion of the water or rather the motion of the particles and plankton in a water. In order to cover the water column a technique called range-gating is used, which includes the principle of delayed time of return for echoes from far away compared to echoes from short distances. The areas over which these signals are being backscattered are called depth cells or bins.

During the whole cruise the cell sizes varied from 2 to 16 meters (see Tab. 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 for comparison). A program called VmDas allowed to configure average intervals at which the output data would be stored. As short and long time averages, one and five minutes were selected (Average Ensemble Interval). Over these intervals VmDas continuously deducted the boat’s average velocity, pitch and roll and saved the output with .STA and LTA extensions, respectively.

Preliminary In order to post process the data using Matlab .mat files were created by exporting a

selection of variables stored in the .STA and .LTA files. The preferred parameters are shown in Figure 4.4, which illustrates the export options from the program WINADCP. The quality control check for ADCP current data follows a sequential approach in which the collected velocities are first corrected for the speed of the boat using the navigation information. Then, a sequence of filters is applied on the ensembles with less than three beams for solution, on error velocities, on correlation count, and on the cumulative distribution of the error velocities for the ensembles that passed the previous steps. Quality controlled data are then stored in .mat files (MATLAB proprietary binary format); velocity vectors are then plotted along the boat track using the first ADCP bin below surface (approximate depth 37 m).

Figure 4.4: Export options of variables exported to a

.mat file. Here Anc Data Types refers to variables belonging to the boat, and Series Data Types refer to the ADCP readings.


17

Table 4.1. PREPARED Project 2014 cruise. All transects done by means of RDI ADCP 150 kHz.

Colors indicate particular sections: yellow: St. 6 – St. 1, green: St. 7 – St. 15, cyan: St. 25 – St. 30, magenta: St. 45 – St. 35, blue: St. 659 – St. 650 (and farther inside Hornsund), red: St. 559 – St. 6.

Table 2. PREPARED Project 2014 cruise. All transects done by means of RDI ADCP 75 kHz. Colors indicate particular sections: yellow: St. 6 – St. 1, green: St. 7 – St. 15, cyan: St. 25 – St. 30, magenta: St. 45 – St. 35, blue: St. 659 – St. 650 (and farther inside Hornsund), red: St. 559 – St. 6.

Table 4.1.1: PREPARED Project 2014 cruise. All transects done by means of RDI ADCP 150 kHz. Colors indicate particular sections: yellow: St. 6 – St. 1, green: St. 7 – St. 15, cyan: St. 25 – St. 30, magenta: St. 45 – St. 35, blue: St. 659 – St. 650 (and farther inside Hornsund), red: St. 559 – St. 6. !

No File No Start Lat Start Long Stop Lat Stop Long Bin size Start time Stop Time Ensembles

1 001 69.5706 17.9587 72.3308 18.0642 2 2014-6-5 14:44 2014-6-6 6:00 917 2 002 72.3332 18.0646 74.1157 18.6041 2 2014-6-6 6:01 2014-6-6 17:01 661 3 003 74.1185 18.6035 75.9222 18.7674 2 2014-6-6 17:02 2014-6-7 4:20 679 4 004 75.9222 18.7675 76.2377 17.2570 2 2014-6-7 4:21 2014-6-7 9:43 323 5 005 76.2377 17.2570 76.3061 16.9505 2 2014-6-7 9:46 2014-6-7 10:54 69 6 006 76.3061 16.9506 76.3433 18.7427 2 2014-6-7 10:57 2014-6-7 14:54 238 7 007 76.3433 18.7427 75.9500 12.5667 2 2014-6-7 14:56 2014-6-8 6:07 912 8 009 75.9500 12.5666 75.9500 12.5667 2 2014-6-8 6:14 2014-6-8 7:01 48 9 010 75.9500 12.5667 76.4980 12.5931 2 2014-6-8 8:22 2014-6-8 11:27 186

10 011 76.4945 12.8522 76.5217 12.7385 2 2014-6-8 15:19 2014-6-8 22:05 407 11 012 76.4650 13.0922 76.4293 13.7590 2 2014-6-8 23:31 2014-6-9 0:23 53 12 013 76.4363 13.9422 76.7156 13.9112 2 2014-6-9 1:44 2014-6-9 10:26 523 13 014 76.7153 13.9093 76.5867 13.1127 2 2014-6-9 10:28 2014-6-9 14:42 178 14 015 76.5301 12.7277 76.3903 11.9397 2 2014-6-9 15:47 2014-6-9 21:52 366 15 016 76.3903 11.9397 77.6031 10.2071 8 2014-6-9 21:56 2014-6-10 8:50 655 16 017 77.6460 10.2815 77.5870 10.1458 4 2014-6-10 20:12 2014-6-11 4:26 495 17 018 77.5883 10.1179 77.3812 08.4837 4 2014-6-11 4:30 2014-6-11 6:46 137 18 019 77.3811 08.4813 78.0611 13.4844 4 2014-6-11 6:47 2014-6-12 3:07 1221 19 020 78.0623 13.4822 76.8408 13.0547 4 2014-6-12 3:11 2014-6-12 12:57 586 20 024 76.8408 13.0557 76.9476 15.5153 2 2014-6-12 13:48 2014-6-12 21:48 481 21 025 76.9447 15.4872 76.4025 16.9146 2 2014-6-12 21:51 2014-6-13 3:37 300 22 026 76.3779 16.9257 75.9177 18.8151 4 2014-6-13 3:49 2014-6-13 13:40 592 23 027 75.9104 18.8088 69.6494 18.9636 4 2014-6-13 13:45 2014-6-15 06:48 2464

Table 4.1.2: PREPARED Project 2014 cruise. All transects done by means of RDI ADCP 75 kHz. Colors indicate particular sections: yellow: St. 6 – St. 1, green: St. 7 – St. 15, cyan: St. 25 – St. 30, magenta: St. 45 – St. 35, blue: St. 659 – St. 650 (and farther inside Hornsund), red: St. 559 – St. 6.!

No File No Start Lat Start Long Stop Lat Stop Long Bin size Start time Stop Time Ensembles

1 001 69.5773 17.9409 72.3303 18.0641 16 2014-6-5 14:47 2014-6-6 6:00 914 2 002 72.3341 18.0648 74.1168 18.6039 16 2014-6-6 6:01 2014-6-6 17:01 661 3 003 74.1196 18.6033 75.9222 18.7675 16 2014-6-6 17:02 2014-6-7 4:20 679 4 004 75.9222 18.7675 76.2377 17.257 16 2014-6-7 4:21 2014-6-7 9:47 327 5 005 76.2377 17.257 76.3061 16.9505 16 2014-6-7 9:48 2014-6-7 10:54 67 6 006 76.3061 16.9506 76.3399 18.5159 16 2014-6-7 10:57 2014-6-7 14:11 164 7 007 76.3433 18.7427 75.95 12.5665 16 2014-6-7 14:56 2014-6-8 6:09 914 8 009 75.95 12.5665 76.4974 12.5908 16 2014-6-8 6:13 2014-6-8 11:27 315 9 010 76.4941 12.854 76.5217 12.7385 16 2014-6-8 15:19 2014-6-8 22:05 407

10 012 76.4653 13.088 76.4289 13.7679 16 2014-6-8 23:31 2014-6-9 0:24 54 11 013 76.4362 13.9421 76.7157 13.9116 16 2014-6-9 1:44 2014-6-9 10:26 523 12 014 76.7154 13.9097 76.5296 12.7282 16 2014-6-9 10:28 2014-6-9 15:44 317 13 015 76.5301 12.7278 76.3903 11.9397 16 2014-6-9 15:47 2014-6-9 21:53 367 14 016 76.3903 11.9397 77.6031 10.207 16 2014-6-9 21:57 2014-6-10 8:50 654 15 017 77.646 10.2815 77.587 10.146 8 2014-6-10 20:12 2014-6-11 4:26 495 16 018 77.5876 10.1269 77.381 8.4868 8 2014-6-11 4:29 2014-6-11 6:45 137 17 019 77.3811 8.4843 78.0611 13.4844 8 2014-6-11 6:46 2014-6-12 3:07 1222 18 020 78.0622 13.4823 76.8408 13.0547 8 2014-6-12 3:11 2014-6-12 12:58 588 19 024 76.8408 13.0556 76.9506 15.5444 8 2014-6-12 13:46 2014-6-12 21:48 483 20 025 76.9446 15.4856 76.4037 16.9129 8 2014-6-12 21:51 2014-6-13 3:36 300 21 026 76.3773 16.9259 75.9176 18.8154 8 2014-6-13 3:53 2014-6-13 13:41 589 22 027 75.9116 18.8091 69.6494 18.9636 8 2014-6-13 13:45 2014-6-15 06:49 2465


18

Preliminary results

The Greenland Sea region west of Spitsbergen over the continental slope and off-shore the shelf is dominated by the boundary current system, so-called the West Spitsbergen Current (WSC). This vigorous flow is a continuation of the Norwegian Atlantic Current carrying warm and saline Atlantic Water from the North Atlantic, farther to the Norwegian and Barents Seas and eventually to the Arctic

Ocean through the Fram Strait (Walczowski et al, 2012, Fig. 4.5). The sections performed during the cruise cross the main flow in several important regions: the slope current, recirculation in the Storfjordrenna, shelf-break area.

Along transects surface currents velocity and directions plotted at the map (Figure 4.6) indicate strong currents above the slope region in the core of the WSC directed to the North what is consistent with the previous observations (for instance, Osinski et al, 2003). Near the

Isfjorden mouth there is an eastward flow towards the fjord. Across the Storfjordrenna mouth outflow may be observed in the central part of the section and inflow in the northern part (depend on the time – there were 2 sections done along similar line). More detailed information may be inferred from the distribution of the cross-sections North and East velocity components (examples in Figures 4.7 and 4.8).

Figure 4.5: A schematic illustration of the Atlantic Water inflow into

the Nordic Seas (from Walczowski et al, 2012).

Figure 4.6: Along track currents velocity and directions based on

measurements from the second bin from RDI ADCP 150 kHz.


19

Figure 4.7: North and East components of the flow at section across the slope (file 019 in Table 1)

inferred from the RDI ADCP 150 kHz data. Strong flow to the North above the slope and shelf is clearly visible. Recirculation to the West is also marked in the central part of the section.

Figure 4.8: North and East components of the flow at section across the Storfjordrenna mouth (file

026 in Table 1) inferred from the RDI ADCP 150 kHz data. Inflow to the East near the Sorkapp and outflow to the South-West in the central part are clearly visible.


20

4.1.3 Meteorology (E. A. Ersdal)

The synoptic situation

G.O. Sars left Tromsø the 5th of June and the weather situation was dominated by stable high pressure over Northern Scandinavia and the Nordic Sea. This resulted in calm wind conditions, predominantly between west and north. During the 12th of June the high pressure weakened and a low pressure developed north of Svalbard, which set up a more defined northwesterly wind field in the Fram Strait and Nordic Sea. The figures below show the Mean Sea Level Pressure (MSLP) from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute from this period. Weather observations from the area including the reaserch vessel are included in the plots. The call sign of G.O. Sars is LMEL.

6th of June 2014, 12 UTC 8th of June 2014, 12 UTC

10th of June 2014, 12 UTC 11th of June 2014, 12 UTC

Figure 4.9: The plots show the Mean Sea Level Pressure (MSLP) given by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.

20.0

3.2

16.9

4.3

16.6

19.6

12.2

4.2

3.0

4.9

1.1

2.5

26.2

14.2

27.923.3

23.0

14.8

0.3

3.1

0.7

1.6

27.6

22.7

6.5

LMEL

6.6

24.0

DIANA.arkiv.2014 MSLP (00 +3756) 2014 06 06 12 UTC SYNOP 2014 06 06 12:00 (11:30 12:30 ) ( 8410 )

Fredag 2014 06 06 12 UTC

15.5

11.4

14.5

5.7

6.1

8.2

14.3

4.2

4.6

14.5

9.5

12.4

10.7

10.9

9.7

4.6LMEL

6.0

8.0

UCKD

10.0

3.7

2.2

4.6

1.1

3.8

14.0

5.2SHIP

7.4

8.0

4.8

0.6

0.4

DIANA.arkiv.2014 MSLP (00 +3804) 2014 06 08 12 UTC SYNOP 2014 06 08 12:00 (11:30 12:30 ) ( 8295 )

Søndag 2014 06 08 12 UTC

12.2

2.8

LMEL

6.1

14.9

6.2

4.2

7.7

12.8

0.3

1.0

2.6

10.0

0.3

1.8

7.1

2.8

2.4

9.510.3

3.2

SHIP

1.3

12.7

HIRLAM.8KM.arkiv MSLP (06 +6) 2014 06 10 12 UTC SYNOP 2014 06 10 12:00 (11:30 12:30 ) ( 8412 )

Tirsdag 2014 06 10 12 UTC

13.0

9.0

7.8

8.7

4.0

7.6

7.6

9.1

2.8

2.6

12.7

1.0

2.5

11.1

1.6

0.4

3.6

0.4

4.3

SHIP

5.8

3.6LMEL

5.3

19.4

4.5

1.4

3.4

DBLK

7.1

HIRLAM.8KM.arkiv MSLP (06 +30) 2014 06 11 12 UTC SYNOP 2014 06 11 12:00 (11:30 12:30 ) ( 8539 )

Onsdag 2014 06 11 12 UTC


21

Observations from the R/V G.O. Sars

The R/V G.O. Sars registered weather observations of wind speed and direction, air pressure, and air/sea water temperature at every 10 minutes. The data collected during the whole cruise is reported in figure 4.10, where the plots were smoothed applying a 2-hour running mean data (Gaussian filter).

The Rose-plot of Figure 4.11, indicates the predominant wind’s direction during the PREPARED cruise that varied manly between southwest and north.

Figure 4.10: The time series of air- and sea temperature, air pressure, wind speed and direction is

shown in the plot above. The time series measurements has been smoothed with a Gaussian filter.

06/06 07/06 08/06 09/06 10/06 11/06 12/06 13/06 14/060

10

20

30

Air t

emp

(C)

06/06 07/06 08/06 09/06 10/06 11/06 12/06 13/06 14/065

0

5

10

Sea

tem

p (C

)

06/06 07/06 08/06 09/06 10/06 11/06 12/06 13/06 14/061010

1015

1020

1025

Air p

ress

ure(

hPa)

06/06 07/06 08/06 09/06 10/06 11/06 12/06 13/06 14/060

5

10

15

Win

d sp

eed

(m/s

)

06/06 07/06 08/06 09/06 10/06 11/06 12/06 13/06 14/060

200

400

Win

d di

r (de

g)


22

photo by Fredriksson

photo by Robijn

10 20 30 40 50

30

210

60

240

90270

120

300

150

330

180

0NW

S

Figure 4.11: A rose plot shows the most dominant wind direction for the period 05th - 14th of June.


23

4.2 Conductivity, temperature and depth measurements (CTD) (R. Skogseth, I. Goszczko and V. Kovacevic)

A total of 60 conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) profiles were made during the PREPARED cruise using a SBE9/11 plus CTD system from Seabird Electronics. Transects with station location are shown in the map of Appendix A, whereas Appendix G contains detailed information at each CTD station (see also Ch.7, Station list).

The CTD system consisted of a pressure sensor (Digiquartz), two conductivity sensors, two temperature sensors, an oxygen sensor from SeaBird Electronics (SBE43), a combined optical sensor (ECO FLNTU, fluorometer and OBS from WET Labs), a transmissometer C-Star from WET Labs, an altimeter. The CTD system was assembled with a SBE Carousel Water Sampler (SBE32) holding 12 Niskin bottles, 10-L capacity each. The specifications of the sensors are given in Table 4.3.

The data were acquired by the PC with the Seabird software SEASAVE ver. 7.21f and processed with the Seabird software SEASOFT following standard processing routines. One water sample was taken at each station from the deepest Niskin bottle for salinity measurements at the IMR Bergen laboratory. Twenty-four samples from the deepest bottle at selected stations were taken for the salinity measurements at the OGS laboratory.

Table 4.3: SBE9/11 plus CTD sensor specifications. Sensor Serial nr. Calibration

date Range Accuracy Resolution

Pressure 510 06.04.06 0 to 6800 m 0.015% of 6800 m

0.001% of 6800 m

Conductivity 1827 & 3442 (OGS)

28.10.13 & 21.01.14

0 to 7 S/m 0.0003 S/m

0.00004 S/m

Temperature 1527 & 1717 (OGS)

13.11.13 & 21.01.14

-5 to +35 °C 0.001 °C 0.0002 °C

Oxygen 0356 08.12.12 120% of surf. sat.

2% of sat. variable

Fluorometer FLNTURTD-3006 (OGS)

03.06.13

OBS FLNTURTD-3006 (OGS)

03.06.13

Transmissometer CST-1621DR Pathlength 25 cm (OGS)

04.06.13

Altimeter 60144 Not known 0-100 m

During the cruise seven CTD sections were occupied. The hydrographical properties are illustrated by in situ temperature (ITPS-68 scale), salinity and density (in terms of sigma_t). Temperature-salinity (TS) diagrams along each section are plotted in Figure 4.12. They show distinction and mixing between the different water masses. The temperature and salinity ranges of the present water masses are listed in Table 4.4.


24

a) b)

c) d)

e) f)

Figure 4.12: Temperature-Salinity (TS) diagrams of a) Transect 1 (Station 6 to Station 1), b) Transect 2 (Station 7 to Station 15), c) Transect 3 (Station 25 to Station 30), d) Transect 4 (Station 35 to Station 45), e) Transect 5 (Station 650 to Station 659) and f) Transect 6 (Station 559 to Station 6). Station location in Appendix A.


25

Table 4.4: The water masses present in the eastern Fram Strait, the West Spitsbergen Shelf and in Storfjordrenna. From Skogseth et al. (2005), Svendsen et al. (2002), Langehaug and Falck (2012). Name Abbreviation Temperature range [°C] Salinity range [psu] Atlantic Water AW >3 >35 Transformed Atlantic Water TAW 1 to 3 34.7 to 34.9 Arctic Intermediate Water AIW -‐1.1 to 0 34.7 to 34.92 Norwegian Sea Deep Water NSDW -‐1.1 to -‐0.5 34.9 to 34.92 Arctic Water ArW <0 34.3 to 34.8 Brine-‐enriched Shelf Water BSW <-‐1.5 >34.8 Polar front Water PW -‐0.5 to 2 34.8 to 35 Surface Water SW >0 <34.4

Figure 4.13 shows the distribution of temperature (in situ, IPTS-68 scale), salinity, density (in terms of sigma_t) and dissolved oxygen content across Storfjordrenna from Station 6 to Station 1. Atlantic Water (AW) with temperatures above 3°C and salinity above 35 psu is seen in the whole trough except for some remnants of colder, less saline and denser Storfjorden plume water or Polar front Water (PW) along the bottom. This water has higher oxygen content than the AW that shows two oxygen minimums indicating inflow or outflow cores along the slopes of Storfjordrenna.

(a) (b)

(c) (d) Figure 4.13: a) Temperature (°C), b) salinity (psu), c) density (kg/m3) and d) oxygen (ml/l) distributed

across Storfjordrenna from Station 6 to Station 1. Station’s location in Appendix A.


26

Figure 4.14 shows the distribution of temperature, salinity, density and oxygen content along Storfjordrenna and across the slope into the eastern Fram Strait from Station 7 to Station 15. AW is seen in Storfjordrenna until Station 9 where it meets a mixture of less saline Surface Water (SW) and Transformed Atlantic Water (TAW) in the upper layer and dense Storfjorden plume water or PW in the lower layer. Brine-enriched Shelf Water (BSW) with temperature down to -1.5 °C and salinity above 35 psu is found at the bottom of Station 7. The oxygen minimum at ~200 m depth indicates the core of the AW. Norwegian Sea Deep Water (NSDW) with minimum oxygen content is seen below ~700 m depth along the slope.

(a)

(b)

(c) (d)

Figure 4.14: a) Temperature (°C), b) salinity (psu), c) density (kg/m3) and d) oxygen (ml/l) distributed across the section from Station 7 to Station 1.5 Station’s location in Appendix A.


27

Figure 4.15 shows the distribution of temperature, salinity, density and oxygen content across the section from Station 25 at the shelf break outside Hornsund to Station 30 in the deeper parts of the eastern Fram Strait. As in Figure 4.14, AW is seen in the surface layer and down to ~500 m depth with warmer and oxygen rich water in the surface. In the deepest layer, NSDW is present. Arctic Intermediate Water (AIW) with higher oxygen content is present between ~500-800 m depths at Stations 30 and 29. Water with relatively higher oxygen content and temperature and salinity characteristics similar to the Storfjorden plume is visible at ~600-800 m depth at Station 27.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 4.15: a) Temperature (°C), b) salinity (psu), c) density (kg/m3) and d) oxygen (ml/l) distributed across the section from Station 25 to Station 30. Station’s location in Appendix A.


28

Figure 4.16 shows the distribution of temperature, salinity, density and oxygen content across the section from the mouth of Isfjorden at Station 35 to the deeper parts of the eastern Fram Strait ending at a submarine peak at Station 45. AW is occupying the ~500 m upper layer in the Fram Strait and the whole water column at the shelf. The AW core or the core of the West Spitsbergen Current (WSC) seems to be situated at ~100-200 m depth between Station 41 and 39 with a clear horizontal density gradient and an oxygen minimum. The surface water and the water at the shelf have very high oxygen content (the highest observed at the cruise). The Storfjorden plume water is still visible with a relative oxygen maximum at ~700-800 m depth at Station 41. AIW is present between ~600-1100m depths between Stations 45 and 43. NSDW with the lowest oxygen content is present along the bottom of the slope in the Fram Strait and seems to be more squeezed to the West Spitsbergen Shelf (WSS) slope.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 4.16: a) Temperature (°C), b) salinity (psu), c) density (kg/m3) and d) oxygen (ml/l) distributed across the section from Station 35 to Station 45. Station’s location in Appendix A.


29

Figure 4.17 shows the distribution of temperature, salinity, density and oxygen content across the WSS just north of Hornsund from Station 650 to Station 659 (UNIS station numbers). Warm and saline AW is following the shelf slope and shelf break and creates a density front between Stations 656 and 655 against low salinity, oxygen rich Surface Water (SW) on the shelf and colder, less saline modified AW (MAW) in the lower layer on the shelf. The SW is a mixture between glacial and sea ice melt water and MAW or local ArW and follows the Spitsbergen Polar Current along the coast of West Spitsbergen.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 4.17: a) Temperature (°C), b) salinity (psu), c) density (kg/m3) and d) oxygen content (ml/l) distributed across the section from Station 650 to Station 659. Station’s location in Appendix A.


30

Figure 4.18 shows the distribution of temperature, salinity, density and oxygen content across Storfjordrenna from Station 6 to Station 559. This is the same section as in Figure 4.13, but obtained one week later. AW is still present as two cores following the southern and northern slopes of the trough. The dense Storfjorden plume is now only visible in the deeper part of the trough and is slightly squeezed more to the southern slope of the trough. The surface layer is warmer and two warm cores aligned with the AW cores are separated by less saline water at Station 556. The surface layer is still high in oxygen.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 4.18: a) Temperature (°C), b) salinity (psu), c) density (kg/m3) and d) oxygen content (ml/l) distributed across Storfjordrenna from Station 6 to Station 559. Station’s location in Appendix A.

In addition to the CTD transects, profile of temperature, salinity and density were measured also at the mooring station S1, ID1 and ID2 (Fig. 4.19, b, c), which data will be used also for multi-beam data calibration.


31

a)

b)

c)

Figure 4.19: CTD profile at mooring station:

a) S1 b) ID1 c) ID2

Station’s location in the map of Appendix A.


32

4.3 Water sampling (M. Celussi, F. Relitti, G. Ingrosso and V. Tirelli)

4.3.1 Water column sampling (Rosette and WP2 net)

CTD data defining water column features were used to decide the location and depth of discrete water sampling for chemical and biological analyses, including pH, total alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, inorganic nutrients, total suspended matter, particulate carbon and nitrogen, chlorophyll a, prokaryotic abundance, microphytoplankton, microzooplankton and mesozooplankton assemblage structure and biomass. Sampling was carried out at selected stations along TR2, TR4 and TR6 throughout the whole water column except where specifically indicated (sites location in Appendix A).

Samples for pH were collected in 125 mL glass bottles, immediately spiked with 25 µL of a saturated HgCl2 solution and stored at 4°C. Analyses have been performed spectrophotometrically at the OGS laboratories by the SOP6b ver 3.01 method (Dickson et al., 2007).

Samples for total alkalinity were collected in 250 mL PP bottles after being filtered through glass fibre membranes (GF/F, Whatman) with nominal pore size 0.7 µm, spiked with 50 µL of a saturated HgCl2 solution and stored at 4°C. The standard operative procedure for total alkalinity in seawater using open cell titration (SOP 3b., Dickson et al., 2007) will be followed.

For dissolved oxygen, water samples were collected in acid-cleaned and distilled-water rinsed 60 mL BOD bottles. Dissolved oxygen concentration was measured onboard with a Mettler Toledo DL titrator for automated Winkler titration based on potentiometric end point detection, as detailed by Zoppini et al. (2010).

Ten samples for chlorophyll determinations were collected at stations 1, 2, 3 and 7 in the photic layer in order to check the calibration of the CTD-mounted fluorescence sensor. 2 litres of seawater were filtered through Whatman GF/F glass-fiber filters (0.45 mm Ø) and immediately frozen (–20°C) until analysis. The Lorenzen and Jeffrey (1980) fluorometric method will be used to determine chlorophyll concentrations.

Seawater samples for dissolved inorganic nutrient analyses (NH4+, NO2

-, NO3-, PO43- and

Si(OH)4-) were pre-filtered on 0.7 µm pore size glass-fiber filters (Whatman GF/F) and stored at

-20°C. Analyses will be carried out by means of an automated flow analyzer Koroleff & Grasshof (1983). The same analyses will be performed for determining the dissolved organic phase of N and P, after mineralization of samples (total dissolved P and N) and subtraction of relative inorganic concentrations.

Samples for DOC analyses were filtered through precombusted (4h at 480°C) and acidified (1N HCl) Whatman GF/F glass fiber filters. Filtration was performed using a glass syringe and a filter holder in order to prevent atmospheric contamination. The filtered samples were stored frozen (-20°C) in 20 mL glass vials (previously treated with chromic mixture and precombusted for 4h at 480°C) and will be analysed by means of a TOC analyzer according to Cauwet (1994).


33

For total suspended matted (TSM), particulate organic C (POC) and particulate N (PN), 1 to 5L samples were filtered through pre-combusted and pre-weighted GF/F filters which were then frozen at -20°C. Membranes will be desiccated and weighted in the laboratory for estimating TSM concentration. Organic C and N content will be determined by means of a CHNO-S elemental analyzer according to the methods of Pella and Colombo (1973) and Sharp (1974).

Samples for total prokaryotes and microplankton (phyto- and zoo-) were fixed with dolomite-buffered formalin at 2 and 4% final concentrations respectively and stored at 4°C. Methods for sampling and analyses are described in Fonda Umani et al. (2005). Microzooplankton samples were collected only at sea surface, whereas microphytoplankton samples were collected along the photic layer.

The samples for mesozooplankton were collected in the upper layer, 0-100 m, of the epipelagic zone (0-200 m) by vertical tows performed with a WP2 net (200 µm mesh aperture, 57 cm diameter) (Fig. 4.19 and Appendix B for sampling location). The net was carefully rinsed, and each sample was split in two halves by using the Hunstman beaker technique (Van Guelpen et al., 1982). One half sample was fixed and preserved in a seawater-buffered formaldehyde solution (4% final concentration ) for subsequent determination of abundance (number of individuals per unit of volume) and species identification.

The other half fresh sample was analyzed immediately for biomass measurements for which the sample was consecutively sieved through 2000, 1000, 500, and 200 µm meshes in order to obtain four size fractions (>2000 µm, 2000-1000µm, 1000-500 µm, and 500-200 µm). Each size fraction was then re-suspended in a small volume of filtered sea water and drained on a 200 µm mesh, after a quick final rinse with distilled water in order to eliminate the sea water salt.

Each sample was then placed in a small pre-weighted capsules (Fig. 4.20), and dried on board in the oven at 60 °C for 48 hours after which the dry samples were stored at -20°C for the transport to the shore-based laboratories at OGS. The dried samples will be re-dried in laboratory and weigh on an electronic microbalance.

Figure 4.19: WP2-Net for mesozooplankton

sampling.

Figure 4.20: Mesozooplankton samples for size fractioned biomass analysis.


34

Preliminary results

Dissolved oxygen concentrations ranged between 6.68 and 11.76 mg L-1. The highest values were found in surface waters in all transects, whereas oxygen depleted samples (< 8.5 mg L-1) were collected at station 30, below 1000 m (Fig. 4.3.3).

Figure 4.21: Isopleths of dissolved oxygen concentration (Winkler method) as a function of the depth

along transects TR2, TR4 and TR6.


35

pH values followed an inshore to offshore and a surface to bottom decreasing trend with the exception of station 7 where the absolute minimum (7.65) was found in correspondence of low-temperature bottom waters (Fig. 4.22).

Figure 4.22: Isopleths of spectrophotometric pH as a function of the depth along transects 2, 4 and 6.

pH is reported on the total scale (pHT) at 25°C


36

Mesozooplankton biomass ranged from 5.62 mgDW/m3 to 213.95 mgDW/m3 measured at station 7 and station 15 respectively. The large zooplankton (size fraction 1000-2000µm) gave the major contribution in terms of biomass while the smallest fraction (size faction 200-500 µm) was the less important. Transect 2 and 4 were characterized by a decreasing offshore-inshore gradient while along transect 6 this pattern was interrupted by the high value of biomass (133.35 mgDW/m3) measured at station 40 (Fig. 4.23).

Figure 4.23: Mesozooplankton biomass (mg DW/m3) along transects TR2, TR4 and TR6.


37

4.3.2 Zooplankton sampling in surface water (Manta net) (V. Tirelli)

In collaboration with the POLAR PLASTIC project, neustonic samples were collected with a Manta net (0.333 mm mesh, 3 m long, 4.24). The Manta net is a net system for sampling ocean’s surface waters. The name derives from its shape resembling a manta ray, with metal wings supported by buoyant aquaplanes, and a frontal broad mouth acting as a trap for ocean surface suspended matter including plankton and marine litter.

Figure 4.24: Manta-net trawled behind the vessel.

The net was deployed from the stern of the vessel and sampled the top 10-15 cm, with at least half of the net below the water. The manta net was towed for a set period of time (between 20 and 25 minutes), at an average speed of 1.5 knots to reduce the effect of the vessel movement on the sampling area. A calibrated flow meter was attached to the mouth of the net to allow for calculation of the amount of water filtered.

The manta net was deployed 22 times in Beaufont sea state 1-3, from the stern of the vessel (Manta-net sampling location in Appendix C). Samples were stored for analysis in formaline (4% final concentration) and will be preserved and analysed at OGS, in Trieste (Italy). These samples will be analysed for micro-plastics (Eurofleets-2 student project Polar Plastics) and hyponeustonic mesozooplankton (PREPARED project).


38

4.4 Moorings’ configuration and deployment (S. Aliani, L. Langone, D. Deponte, P. Mansutti, S. Fredriksson, A. Robijn, S. Cosoli,

and V. Kovacevic)

Three mooring sites (S1, ID1, and ID2) were placed in the study area as follows: S1 was placed at the Storfjorden (S) slope at 1040 m depth, whereas ID1 and ID2 were placed at 1318 m and 1040 m depth approximately at the Isfjorden sediment drift (ID) crest and moat respectively (Appendix D).

Mooring S1 (Fig. 4.25), is equipped with one sequential sampling sediment trap (McLane) at 26 m above the bottom (sampling once a month during 1st of October to 1st of March and twice a month during rest of the year). A SBE Seacat16plus V2 is added to the sediment trap in order to measure conductivity and temperature (sampling rate 1 800 s) and another temperature meter, SBE56, is placed 10 m above the bottom (sampling rate 900 s). The velocity is measured via an ADCP RDI 150 kHz (programmed to measure 32 cell of 5 m each with a sampling rate of 30 minutes) connected to the buoy at 136 m above the bottom and an Aanderaa RCM8 current meter (sampling rate 3 600 s) at 21 m above the bottom.

Mooring ID1 (Fig. 4.26), is equipped with one Aanderaa RCM11 current meter and a SBE37SM/Microcat conductivity and temperature meter at 12 m and 14 m above the bottom, respectively (sampling rate 7 200 s and 900 s respectively).

Mooring ID2 (Fig. 4.27) is equipped with one Aanderaa RCM4 and one RCM9 current meter 17.5 m and 120 m above the bottom (sampling rate 7 200 s and 3 600 s respectively). The conductivity and temperature are measured with two SBE37SM/Microcat placed 15 m and 118.5 m above the bottom (sampling rate 900 s).

4.4.1 Instruments’ specifications Beacon XEOS KILO

The `kilo` surface/subsurface Iridium Satellite Beacon with GPS location can continuously monitor for unplanned or accidental release of the subsurface instrument moorings.

Main specifications are: Depth rating 2500 m Lifetime battery 1 year subsurface followed by 90 days messages (standard battery) Iridium 9602 proprietary Dual band Iridium/GPS GPS 48 channel SIRF starIV, GSD4e GPS chip Releaser

Teledyne Benthos AR866A The AR 866A is a rugged stainless steel transponding release, depth rated to 2000 m and

capable of loads up to 2200kg. The unit installed on the mooring ID1 is equipped with a 4 year long-life battery.

Key-Specifications include: Release Load 2200 kg Release Mechanism high torque motor Depth rating 2000 m Battery Life 4 years (long life battery mode)


39

Figure 4.25: configuration of mooring S1


40

Mooring ID1

Eurofleets2 – Prepared Cruise

77° 35.368` N – 010° 05.561`E -‐ Water Depth 1318 m – deployed on 11/06/2014 03:22 UTC

4.20 m

6 Vitrovex Buoys

1.50 m

14.40 m Kevlar Rope SBE 37SM Microcat 19558-‐0742 ( 0.73 m)

(1.00 m)

AANDERAA RCM11 s/n 19 0.80 m

2 Vitrovex buoys 2.30 m

TELEDYNE Benthos 8668 s/n 55011 Releaser 0.75 m

4.80 m Kevlar Rope

5.20 m chain

Ballast 420 kg

Figure 4.26: Settings of mooring ID1 on the crest of Isfjorden sediment drift.


41

Mooring ID2

Eurofleets2 – Prepared Cruise 77° 38.760’ N – 010° 16.890’E -‐ Water Depth 1040 m – deployed on 10/06/2014 23:46 UTC

Flotation Technologies 40’’ Subsurface BUOY

5.00 m Kevlar Rope

2 Vitrovex Buoys 1.40 m

5.00 m Kevlar Rope


SBE 37SM Microcat 1958-‐0750 (SBE 1 m below Current meter)

102.00 m Kevlar Rope


SBE 37SM Microcat 14149-‐0033 4.90 m Kevlar Rope

(SBE 2.5 m above buoys)

2 Vitrovex buoys 2.60 m Kevlar Rope

IXSEA Oceano 2500S Universal AR861B2S s/n 1260 Releaser 0.80 m

4.60 m Kevlar Rope

4.40 m Iron chain

Ballast 720 kg

Figure 4.27: settings of mooring ID2 on the moat of the Isfjorden sediment drift.


42

IXSEA OCEANO 2500 S Universal AR861B2S: this is a field-proven, reliable, and versatile mooring instrument by IXSEA. The 2500 Universal is made of super duplex stainless steel. Acoustic status reply includes tilt and battery voltage.

Key-Specifications include: Release Load 2500 kg Minimum breaking load 10000 kg Depth rating 6000 meters Battery Life up to 4 years (alkaline) @ 20 deg C

EDGETECH 8242XS: the acoustic release 8242 is a field-proven, reliable, and versatile mooring instrument by Edgetech. The 8242XS is made entirely of Nickel Aluminum Bronze alloy with titanium closure hardware for very long deployments with no corrosion. Acoustic status reply includes tilt and release state.

Key-Specifications include: Release mechanism Spring driven rotary type with advantage hook Release load rating 5,500 kg central axis loading Depth rating 6000 meters Replaceable Alkaline Batteries lasting 2 years / 100,000 replies.

Currentmeters

RCM4 and RCM8 are single point current-meters by Aanderaa. Meters RCM4 are designed for depths down to 2000m, while RCM8 for 6000m. The current meter consists of a recording unit and vane assembly which is equipped with a rod that can be shackled into the mooring line. This arrangement permits the instrument to swing freely and align with the current. The recording unit contains all sensors, the measuring system, battery and a detachable, reusable solid state data storage unit (DSU).

Meters comprise: - Savonius rotor magnetically coupled to an electronic counter - the number of revolutions

during the sampling interval giving the average current speed over the interval - starting speed 2 cm/s, range 2.5 to >250cm/s, accuracy greater of 1 cm/s or 2 per cent;

- Vane, which aligns instrument with current flow, has a balance weight ensuring static balance and tail fins to ensure dynamic balance in flows up to 250cm/s;

- Magnetic compass, direction recorded with 0.35° resolution, 5° accuracy for speeds 5 to 100cm/s, 7.5° accuracy for remaining speeds within 2.5 to 200cm/s range, maximum compass tilt (i.e. maximum deviation of the meter from the horizontal at which the meter still registers correctly) is 12° in both pitch and roll axes;

- Quartz clock, accuracy better than 2 sec/day within temperature range 0 to 20°C; - Thermistor (temperature sensor), range -2.46 to 21.48°), accuracy 0.15°C for RCM4 and

0.05° for RCM8, resolution 0.1 per cent of range; - Self balancing potentiometer which converts the output from each sensor into a 10 bit

binary number for storage on magnetic tape;


43

- Associated electronics; - Recording system by DSU mod. 2990E; max data stored, 43600 records of all channels.

RCM9 and RCM11: they are single point current-meters by Aanderaa. Meters RCM9 are designed for depths down to 1000m, while RCM11 for 6000m. Respect to the RCM4 this instrument has an acoustic sensor to determinate current velocity. Current meters are protected by a mooring frame with sensor protecting ring.

Meters comprise: - Acoustic Doppler sensor; instrument sends out 600 ping during each recording interval

obtaining an accuracy of 0.15 cm/s; - Magnetic compass, direction recorded with 0.35° resolution, 5° accuracy for speeds 5 to

100cm/s, 7.5° accuracy for remaining speeds within 2.5 to 200cm/s range, maximum compass tilt (i.e. maximum deviation of the meter from the horizontal at which the meter still registers correctly) is 12° in both pitch and roll axes;

- Recording system by DSU mod. 2990E; max data stored,43600 records of all channels.

Teledyne RDI ADCP BB150: the RDI self contained BroadBand ADCP is a current profiler able to acquire current velocity at different depths using the doppler effect.

Single ping accuracy: 1 cm/s @ 16 m depth cell Maximum profiling range 230 m (300 m @ high power mode) Minimum range to start of first depth cell 4 m Number of depth cells: 1 to 128 Depth cell size: 5 to 3200 cm Heading accuracy: 5 deg Tilt accuracy: 1 deg Temperature accuracy: 0.5 deg

Conductivity and Temperature sensors

Seabird SBE 37-SM: the SBE 37-SM MicroCAT is a high-accuracy moored conductivity and temperature recorder. It is equipped with a internal-field conductivity cell and a pressure protected thermistor, within a titanium housing. The Measurement range, accuracy, stability and resolution are described in Table 4.5. The MicroCATs are programed with 900 seconds sample interval.

Table 4.5: Sensor specifications of the SBE 37-SM MicroCATs. Data source

Measurement Range

Initial Accuracy

Typical Stability Resolution

Conductivity 0 to 7 S/m (0 to 70 mS/cm)

± 0.0003 S/m (0.003 mS/cm)

0.0003 S/m (0.003 mS/cm)

per month

0.00001 S/m (0.0001 mS/cm)

Temperature (°C) -5 to 45 ± 0.002 (-5 to 35 °C);

± 0.01 (35 to 45 °C) 0.0002 per month 0.0001


44

SBE 16plus V2: the SBE 16plus V2 conductivity and temperature recorder is self-powered and self-contained, for depths up to 10,500 meters. The 16plus V2 records data at programmable intervals in 64 Mbyte FLASH RAM and can be commanded to sample and output data for telemetry applications. The 16plus V2 includes six differentially amplified A/D input voltage channels and one RS-232 channel for auxiliary sensors. A standard RS-232 interface is used for programming, telemetry output, and data extraction. The SBE 16plus V2 uses the same temperature and conductivity sensors of MicroCATs.

Table 4.6: Sensor specifications of the SBE 16plus V2 MicroCATs

Measurement Range

Initial Accuracy

Typical Stability Resolution

Conductivity (S/m) 0 - 9 ± 0.0005 0.0003/month 0.00005 typical

Temperature (°C) -5 to +35 ± 0.005 0.0002/month 0.0001

The deployed instrument has a titanium housing for depths down to 7000m, a submersible pump SBE 5T and a turbidity sensor.

SBE 5T has a centrifugal pump head, a titanium housing (10,500m depth) and a long-life, brushless, DC, ball-bearing motor. The pump impeller and electric drive motor are coupled magnetically through the housing, providing high reliability by eliminating moving seals.

The Seapoint Turbidity Meter detects light scattered by particles suspended in water, generating an output voltage proportional to turbidity or suspended solids. Water depth capability, 6000 m; range 100 x gain or 0-25 FTU; sensitivity, 200 mV/FTU; offset voltage is < 1 mV of zero; sensing volume < 5 cm from sensor.

Temperature Logger SBE 56: the SBE 56's pressure-protected thermistor has a 0.5 second time constant, providing excellent accuracy (initial accuracy 0.002 °C) and resolution when fast sampling at 2 Hz (0.5 sec). It has exceptional stability; drift is typically less than 0.002 °C per year.

The SBE 56 is equipped with 64 MB memory, high-accuracy real time clock, plastic housing for depths up to 1500 meters, and USB 2.0 interface. Calibration coefficients are stored in memory; the included easy-to-use Java-based software (compatible with nearly any computer operating system) uploads the raw data, applies the coefficients, and outputs and plots finished data in degrees C and date and time.

Sediment trap

Parflux Mark 7G-21 sediment trap by McLane Research Lab was designed to collect a series of settling particle samples in the deep ocean for the purpose of measuring the seasonal or time-series variability of particle fluxes (Tab. 4.7).


45

Characteristics in the design include (Fig. 4.28):

- the titanium frame and extensive use of advanced engineering plastics, which prevent contamination of samples by corrosion;

- funnel aperture of 0.5 m2 (diameter, 80 cm) with a polycarbonate baffle (aspect ratio, 2.5) - 21 sampling bottles with individual seals in the rotary mechanism - a time-series control system and an electronic stepper motor

Table 4.7: time series measurements Bottle Start Stop Sampling

days 1 15/6/2014 0:01 1/7/2014 0:01 16 2 1/7/2014 0:01 16/7/2014 0:01 15 3 16/7/2014 0:01 1/8/2014 0:01 16 4 1/8/2014 0:01 16/8/2014 0:01 15 5 16/8/2014 0:01 1/9/2014 0:01 16 6 1/9/2014 0:01 16/9/2014 0:01 15 7 16/9/2014 0:01 1/10/2014 0:01 15 8 1/10/2014 0:01 1/11/2014 0:01 31 9 1/11/2014 0:01 1/12/2014 0:01 30

10 1/12/2014 0:01 1/1/2015 0:01 31 11 1/1/2015 0:01 1/2/2015 0:01 31 12 1/2/2015 0:01 1/3/2015 0:01 28 13 1/3/2015 0:01 16/3/2015 0:01 15 14 16/3/2015 0:01 1/4/2015 0:01 16 15 1/4/2015 0:01 16/4/2015 0:01 15 16 16/4/2015 0:01 1/5/2015 0:01 15 17 1/5/2015 0:01 16/5/2015 0:01 15 18 16/5/2015 0:01 1/6/2015 0:01 16 19 1/6/2015 0:01 15/6/2015 0:01 14 20 15/6/2015 0:01 1/7/2015 0:01 16 21 1/7/2015 0:01 21/7/2015 0:01 20

Rigging

Ropes of 10-12 mm diameter with a braided Kevlar core and a protective mantle where used for the rigging of all moorings. The individual sections of the S1 mooring where connected with Rapide Maillon stainless steel quick-links (Fig. 4.29). On the ID1 and ID2 moorings stainless steel shackles where used and all steel connections on all moorings where backed up with Spectra loops.

Figure 4.29: Rapide Maillon stainless steel quick-links

Figure 4.28: Sediment trap deployed at mooring site S1.


46

4.4.2 Moorings’ deployment

The moorings were set at sea during the first days of the cruise. Deployment sites were surveyed by multibeam for bathymetric and depth details and a CTD measurement was made in place. The moorings deployment occurred from the back of the ship, starting with the top buoys and ending with the anchor weights. During deployment the ship kept a slow pace to tension the mooring lines (Fig. 4.30). Ones the anchor weights were lowered to water level the ship

moved to the site location and the anchor was released from the crane. The pull of the anchor ensured the mooring to sink down in a straight line.

Triangulation and echosounder check

After mooring deployment at stations ID1 and ID2, a set of 3 measurements at about 1000 m distance in 3 different positions were made to verify the correct positioning of the moorings (triangulation, Fig. 4.31).

Figure 4.30: Deployment of mooring S1.

Figure 4.31: Triangulation at ID1(top) and ID2 (bottom) mooring stations.


47

For this, we used the TT801 and the Teledyne Universal Deck Box UDB-9000 deck unit to interrogate the releaser, obtaining the distance from the transducer to the releaser. From these measurements, we verified the estimated mooring positions of ID1 and ID2 of 105 m NW and 257 m NW respectively from the predefined location as consequence of the strong water column currents observed during deployment. The ADCP data collected during the deployment confirm a current (ADCP data cover about half of the column) of about 0.35-0.50 m/s in NW direction (330) perfectly compatible with the shifted position verified by triangulation (Fig. 4.32). In addition, the ship crossed the site to detect the mooring with the on board echo-sounder to confirm the correct vertical position of the different components (Fig. 4.33).

Figure 4.32: ADCP record collected during deployment.

Site ID1

Site ID2

Figure 4.33: The images confirm the vertical position in the water column. Aside, the ship track-log of the echo sounder confirms the triangulated positions.


48

4.5 Acoustic survey (A. Caburlotto, J.-S. Laberg, and R.G. Lucchi)

The acoustic survey included multibeam swath bathymetry and sub-bottom profiler acquisition. Multibeam bathymetry was acquired employing a Kongsberg Maritime EM 302 30 kHz multibeam echosounder, with a depth range of 10 – 7000 m. During the survey the seabed was scanned with a full beam angle of 100 degree (50 degrees on each side of the survey track) giving a seafloor survey amplitude of ca 3000 m across track at 1000 m water depth. Each site survey was combined with a local CTD measurement for sonic-velocity calibration that will be used during shore based data processing. Sub-bottom profiles were acquired employing a TOPAS, PS018 Parametric sub-bottom profiler. The data were interpreted during the cruise for Calypso Cores location and definition of mooring sites sea floor characteristics and depth.

Four sites were surveyed with water depth ranging 1300 – 1700 m bsl: 2 sites for Calypso piston cores (stations BD and ID1), surveyed with 2 cross lines of multibeam and TOPAS of approximately 6 – 7 nm; and 2 sites for Moorings (stations S1 and ID2), were surveyed with 2 multibeam cross lines of approximately 6 – 7 nm. The cross lines were run along-slope and down-slope, having an approximate orientation NW-SE and NE-SW.

Due to sonic interferences between instruments, the morpho-bathymetry (MBES) and sub-bottom (SBP) surveys were run separately. MBES and SBP data were not processed on board.

4.5.1 Bellsund Drift

The along-slope sub-bottom profile (Fig. 4.34) is characterized by acoustically laminated sedimentary deposits having deep acoustic penetration, up to 70 ms TWT in the northern part, over the contouritic drift. Conversely, the south-eastern area is characterised by poor penetration due to the occurrence of a large buried gravity mass deposits (transparent wedge on the profile).

Figure 4.34: Along-slope sub-bottom profile

across site BD (Bellsund Drift)

NW SE Figure 4.35: Down-slope sub-bottom

profile across site BD (Bellsund Drift)

NE SW

2 km

GS191-01PC GS191-01PC

2 km 50 ms TWT

50 ms TWT


49

The down-slope profile (Fig 4.35) confirm high penetration of some 60-70 ms TWT in the northern part, where the plastered drift develop, whereas in the south-eastern area, at the base of the continental slope, is characterized by little penetration for the presence of 2 large buried debris flows/gravity flows.

4.5.2 Isfjorden Drift

The along-slope profile (Fig. 4.36) is characterized by acoustically-laminated deposits with high sonic penetration, up to 70 ms TWT. Small, buried gravity mass deposits (lens shaped transparent bodies) occur at approximately 10 ms TWT below the seafloor.

The down-slope profile (Fig. 4.37) show a penetration from 20 up to70 ms TWT. The seafloor and sub-bottom reflectors show a concave downward geometry, indicative of the plastered contouritic drift. No debris flows/gravity flows are observed.

Figure 4.36: Along-slope sub-bottom profile

across site ID1 (Isfjorden Drift).

NW SE

Figure 4.37: Along-slope sub-bottom profile across site ID1

(Isfjorden Drift).

NE SW

GS191-02PC

2 km

2 km

GS191-02PC

50 ms TWT

50 ms TWT


50

4.6 Bottom Sampling (C. Morigi, K. Husum, K. Mezgec, E. Ponomarenko, M. Łacka, J.-S. Laberg, A. Caburlotto, D.I. Blindheim and R.G. Lucchi)

Sediment bottom sampling were performed employing a Calypso piston corer (barrel 21.4 m-long with plastic liner inner diameter of 100 mm, and 3000 kg of full load) for the recovery of two long stratigraphic sequences at the crest of the Bellsund and Isfjorden sediment drifts, and a box corer (30x30x50 cm steel box) for the recovery of the uppermost part of the sedimentary record including the water-sediment interface for the characterization of sea bottom recent and modern environmental characteristics (Fig. 4.38). The box cores were located also at the mooring’s sites in order to verify the sea floor characteristics for

moorings deployment in addition to the modern oceanographic and environmental characteristics inferred from the sediments.

4.6.1 Box Cores

A total of 5 sites were cored with the box corer (Tab. 4.8, site location in Appendix E). Two consecutive attempt of coring failed at Site S1 and only a smear of coarse sediments remained inside the steel box after the second attempt (core GS191-03BC). The coring operation failed also the first attempt at site ID2 located in the moat of the Isfjorden sediment drift, whereas the second attempt recovered a small volume of coarse sediments with large pebbles (core GS191-05BC).

Table 4.8: Box cores (location in Appendix E).

Box core ID

waterdepth

(m) Latitude N longitude E location

max recovery

(cm) GS191-01BC 263 76,34334 18,74275 St. 7, Storfjorden Shelf 24 GS191-02BC 1647 76,52167 12,73833 Crest Bellsund Drift (Calypso 01) 25 GS191-03BC 1046 76,43617 13,94233 Coarse sediments (Mooring S1) - GS191-04BC 1322 77,58917 10,09159 Crest Isfjorden Drift (Calypso 02) 29 GS191-05BC 1038 77,64602 10,28159 Moat Isfjorden Drift (Mooring ID2) gravel

Preliminary investigation of sediments

Each box core surface was visually logged before sediment sub-sampling. One of the plastic liners used for sub-sampling was previously cut longitudinally in order to easily split the section for photographs and down-core detailed sediment description (Fig. 4.39a, b, c, e). The splitted half

Figure 4.38: The Calypso and Box cores employed

during the PREPARED cruise.


51

sections were then furthermore sub-sampled at 1 cm resolution and the sub-samples wet weighted and stored at 4 °C (Tab. 4.9).

GS191-01BC_a GS191-01BC_b GS191-02BC_a GS191-02BC_b

depth (cm)

wet weight

(g)

depth (cm)

wet weight

(g)

depth (cm)

wet weight

(g)

depth (cm)

wet weight

(g) 0-1.5 23 0-1.5 10 0-1.5 14 0-1.5 21 1.5-3 31 1.5-3 28 1.5-3 21 1.5-3 38 3-4 31 3-4 23 3-4 23 3-4 37 4-5 34 4-5 26 4-5 27 4-5 34 5-6 38 5-6 28 5-6 25 5-6 39 6-7 40 6-7 26 6-7 24 6-7 33 7-8 30 7-8 25 7-8 27 7-8 37 8-9 47 8-9 21 8-9 22 8-9 35

9-10 51 9-10 26 9-10 33 9-10 41 10-11 43 10-11 31 10-11 28 10-11 37 11-12 29 11-12 30 11-12 26 11-12 37 12-13 36 12-13 31 12-13 28 12-13 33 13-14 39 13-14 28 13-14 34 13-14 37 14-15 42 14-15 22 14-15 27 14-15 33 15-16 44 15-16 31 15-16 28 15-16 30 16-17 41 16-17 27 16-17 25 16-17 39 17-18 42 17-18 23 17-18 26 17-18 34 18-19 25 18-19 25 18-19 17 18-19 44 19-20 36 19-20 18 19-20 18 19-20 42 20-21 80 20-21 34 20-21 18 20-21 33

21-22 35 21-22 34 21-22 40

GS191-01BC_a GS191-01BC_b

depth (cm)

wet weight

(g)

depth (cm)

wet weight

(g)

Table 4.9: wet weight of box cores GS191-01BC, -02BC, -04BC sub-samples.

0-1 28 0-1 18 1-2 22 1-2 17 2-3 33 2-3 35 3-4 19 3-4 28 4-5 24 4-5 25 5-6 20 5-6 30 6-7 27 6-7 28 7-8 21 7-8 30 8-9 32 8-9 34

9-10 24 9-10 38 10-11 27 10-11 37 11-12 34 11-12 33 12-13 31 12-13 37 13-14 23 13-14 35 14-15 29 14-15 34 15-16 26 15-16 34 16-17 29 16-17 37 17-18 27 17-18 37 18-19 33 18-19 38 19-20 26 19-20 29 20-21 28 20-21 26 21-22 43 21-22 23 22-23 37 22-23 45


52

Figure 4.39a: Sediment lithological description of Box core GS191-01BC

5 cm

Observers: R.G. Lucchi, C. Morigi Date: 07-06-2014, h.15:06

Core GS191-01BC (st. # 7) Sediment recovery: 22 cmCoordinates: 76°,34334 N - 18°,74275 E Water depth: 262.8 m

Cruise EUROFLEETS-2 PREPARED, R/V G.O. Sars, 05-15 June, 2014

LITHOLOGIC DESCRIPTION

SED

IM.

STR

UC

T.

Lith

olog

y

PHOTO

SURFACE SEDIMENTDESCRIPTION

Soupy jelly-like soft sedimentsSilty-clay, slightly moundedsurface with black tube of worms

0-2 cm dark-brown silty claysoupy surface

2-22 cm darl gray silty claywith abundant black mottles

at 11 cm large mottle

siltyclay

dept

h (c

m)

Black tube with worm (glass 2.5 cm-large)

10

20

30


53

Figure 4.39b: Sediment lithological description of Box core GS191-02BC

5 cm

VOIDObservers: R.G. Lucchi, C. Morigi Date: 08-06-2014, h. 20:43

Core GS191-02BC (st. BD) Sediment recovery: 22 cmCoordinates: 76°, 52167 N - 12°,73833 E Water depth: 1647 m



SED

IM.

STR

UC

T.

Lith

olog

y

PHOTO


Soft brown silt and silty claywith >1 mm-large pyrgo(benthic forams) and elongatedagglutinated forams

A rounded void located at themargin of the box core may becaused by earlier coring withCalypso corer

Very cold sediments!

0-4 cm soft soupy brown silt andsilty clay4-6 cm dark-brown silty clay6-9 cm light-gray silty clay9-10 cm dark-brown silty clay10-14 cm light-brown/yellowish silty clay14-22 cm light-gray silty clayThe whole section is bioturbated

siltyclay

dept

h (c

m)

10

20

30


54

Figure 4.39 c: Sediment lithological description of Box core GS191-04BC

5 cm


Core GS191-04BC (st. ID1) Sediment recovery: 29 cmCoordinates: 77°,58917N - 10°,09159E Water depth: 1323 m



SED

IM.

STR

UC

T.

Lith

olog

y

PHOTO


Very soft brown clayly silt withsea stars, sparse IRD,elongated agglutinated forams.1 possible Cornuspiroidesstriolatus 1.5 cm-large.Large pyrgos

Disturbed surface by coring

0-2 cm soft soupy brown mud2-5 cm soft, brown mud with IRD6-8 cm large burrow5-23 cm gray soft mud

Bioturbations all over the section

siltyclay

dept

h (c

m)

Cornuspiroides striolatus

10

20

30


55

Figure 4.39d: Sediment lithological description of Box core GS191-05BC

Sediment surface samples: Core GS191-01BC, is characterised by a calcareous benthic foraminiferal microfauna more diversified and rich than the other two surface intervals of the 02BC and 04BC. In particular, we identified Nonionella turgida and N. labradorica, together with Elphidium spp. The surface of core 02BC, is draped by big agglutinated, uniserial species. We identified Hyperammina subnodosa (Fig. 4.40) and Reophax spp. These taxa are known to live in sea floor environments characterized by strong bottom currents. Soft-walled monothalamous benthic foraminifera were also found.

Two additional surface samples from the upper 2 cm of box cores 01BC and 02BC were analyzed onboard to estimate the ratio of planktonic Vs benthic foraminifera as index of continent vicinity Vs pelagic input. A minimum of 100 tests were counted for each sample (Tab. 4.10). As core 02BC is much deeper than core 01BC, we expected to have more planktonic foraminifera in the former than the shallower one.

Instead, the Planktonic/benthic ratio resulted higher in station 02BC. The surprisingly small amount

5 cm


Core GS191-05BC (st. ID2) Sediment recovery: -Coordinates: 77°,64602N - 10°,28159E Water depth: 1038 m



Brown clayly sandy silt withabundant IRD up to 7 cm-large

Box-corer almost empty

Figure 4.40: Hyperammina subnodosa, a) residue b) specie detail


56

of planktonic foraminifera at site 02BC could be related to bottom currents derived from the shallow areas either associated to meltwaters or other type of bottom current formation, whereas site 01BC, although shallower, appears less affected by this type of currents.

Table 4.10: Planktonic Vs benthic foraminifera.

Box core ID Water

depth (m) Wet

weight (g) Dry weight

(g)

Planktonic foraminifera/ g dry

sediments P/B

GS191-01BC 263 51 19.5 403 5.25 GS191-02BC 1647 41 18.5 128 1.15

On the sediment surface of core GS191 04BC, we found a very

rare giant benthic foraminifera: the Miliolid, Cornuspiroides striolatus (Brady, 1882) (Fig. 4.41). As reported by Schmiedl & Mackensen (1993) this species is passive suspension feeders leaving in low bottom current environment.

The sediment sub-samples of box core GS191-01BC were also investigated for the down-core qualitative micropaleontological content and the results are reported in Table 4.11.

Table 4.11: Qualitative paleontological content of core GS191-01BC.

GS19 -01 BC 1-2 cm 2-3 cm 3-4 cm 5-6 cm 19-21 cmBolivina pseudopunctata 2 1 1 2 2Buccella sp. 2 2 2 2 3Cassidulina neoteretis 1 1 1 1 3Cassidulina reniforme 2 2 2 2 5Cibicides lobatulus 1 1 1 1 3Elphidium asklundi 1 1 1 1 3Elphidium excavatum f. clavata 3 3 3 2 5Elphidium hallandense 1 1 1 2 4Haynesina orbiculare 1 2 1 1 4Islandiella helenae 2 2 2 2 4Islandiella norcrossi 2 2 2 2 1Glandulina sp. ? 2 1 2 1 2Lagena spp. 1 1 1 1 2Melonis barleanus 1 1 1 1 4Nonionellina labradorica 2 2 1 1 5Nonionella turgida 1 1 1 2 2Pyrgo williamsoni 1 1 1 2 1Quinqueloculina seminulum 1 1 1 2 2Quinqueloculina stalkeri 1 1 1 1 2Stainforthia fusiformis 1 1 1 3 3Adercotryma glomerata 1 2 3 1 3Alveophragmium crassimargo 4 3 4 3 1Recuvoides tubinatus 2 1 1 2 1Reophax sp. 2 3 1 1 2Saccaminae sp.? (agglut. and only 1 chamber) 3 2 2 2 1Textularia earlandi 3 1 3 2Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sin) 2 1 1 2 2

KEY: 1=absent; 2=rare; 3=less common; 4=common; 5=abundant; 6=very abundantNotes: 1-2 cm: very abundant red grains and common worm tubes 2-3 cm: very abundant red grains and worm tubes 3-4 cm: very abundant quartz grains and common red stained grains 5-6 cm: abundant pellets and some worm tubes 19-21 cm: abundant pellets and worm tubes

Figure 4.41: Cornuspiroides striolatus (Brady, 1882)


57

Box core sub-sampling procedure

In addition to the sub-sampling for onboard preliminary compositional analyses of the sediments, routine sub-sampling was performed for shore-based sedimentological, micropalaeontological, biological, geochemical and biochemical purposes for which all of the samples were stored at +4°C or -20°C according to the protocol foreseen for the specific shore-based analysis (Tables 5.1 and 5.2 and Fig. 4.42). A schematic description of the methods for sub-sampling and type of analyses of the sediments are indicated as follow:

- Living Foraminifera, geochemical and biochemical analyses: 2 cores with a 3.6 cm diameter (surface area ~10 cm2) and one core with 11 cm (surface area ~95 cm2) were sub-sampled from each box core. Pseudo-replicates for each box-corer station were frozen at -20°C.

- Recent Foraminifera analyses and grain size analysis: 1 core was open and sampled onboard. The two sections were sampled at 1-cm thick layers to a depth of 20 cm. Each slice was weighted, washed and dried on board with a 63 µm sieve.

- Mg/Ca analysis on recent foraminifera: 1 Falcon 50 ml was collected for each box-core and frozen at -20°C.

- Proteins of benthic foraminifera: 1 Falcon 15 ml was collected for each box-core, the residues was washed with a 125 µm sieve and frozen at -20°C.

- Organic matter analyses: 1 spoon of the surface sediment (0-2 cm) was stored in a petri dish and frozen at -20°C.

- Biodiversity and stable isotope analyses on foraminiferal tests: 2 plastic vials of surface sediments (0-2 cm) treated with Rose Bengala.

- Sedimentological, compositional and palaeomagnetic analyses: 2 cores for each deployment were recovered and cooled at +4°C.

4.6.2 Calypso piston cores

Two Calypso piston cores were collected at the crest of the Bellsund and Isfjorden sediment drifts thought to contain an expanded stratigraphic sequence necessary for high-resolution palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the past climatic oscillations (Tab. 4.12).

Table 4.12: Calypso piston cores (location in Appendix F)

Calypso core ID

water depth

(m) Lat. N Long. E location

Sediment recovery

(m)

No. of section

% of recovery

GS191-01PC 1647 76,52167 12,73833 Crest Bellsund Drift 19.67 21 91.92

GS191-02PC 1322 77,58917 10,09159 Crest Isfjorden Drift 17.37 19 80.79

Figure 4.42: Sampling of box cores


58

The 21.4 m-long plastic liner was cut into 1-m sections and labelled with sequential alphabetic letter on the extraction from the Calypso core barrel (letter A being the deeper section), and subsequently converted into sequential numbers with the first section corresponding to the uppermost part of the stratigraphic sequence (Tab. 4.13, and 4.14).

The sediments at the bottom of each section were visually described and analysed for shear strength properties using a pocket vane tester equipped with vanes of different diameter depending of the sediment stiffness. During the PREPARED cruise we used vanes of medium and large diameter (Fig. 4.43). Routine samples were then collected at the bottom of each section for preliminary micropaleontological/stratigraphical investigation.

Sediment description and shear strength analyses

Tables 4.13 and 4.14 resume the lithological characteristics of the sediments described at the bottom of each piston core section, and report the length of each section and correspondent shear strength raw values which down-core plots are reported in figure 4.44 obtained after shear strength values conversion.

Table 4.13: Calypso core GS191-01PC, Bellsund Drift

Labeling Section No.

Length (cm)

Shear strength Sediment lithology

GS191-01PC (A) 21 100 7.5* dark gray mud with black spots GS191-01PC (B) 20 100 8.8* “ GS191-01PC (C) 19 100 1.6^ “ GS191-01PC (D) 18 100 2.0^ “ GS191-01PC (E) 17 100 1.9^ “ GS191-01PC (F) 16 90 1.2^ “ GS191-01PC (G) 15 100 1.5^ “ GS191-01PC (H) 14 100 1.0^ “ GS191-01PC (I) 13 100 1.0^ gray mud GS191-01PC (J) 12 100 0.9^ gray mud with silt (silty laminae?) GS191-01PC (K) 11 100 0.6^ structureless gray mud GS191-01PC (L) 10 90 2.0* gray mud with black silty patches GS191-01PC (M) 9 100 2.1* “ GS191-01PC (N) 8 76 - same lithology as for sec M, upper 24 cm void GS191-01PC (O) 7 78 1.9* same lithology as for sec N, lower 22 cm void GS191-01PC (P) 6 100 1.5* gray mud with black silty patches GS191-01PC (Q) 5 100 1.2* gray mud GS191-01PC (R) 4 90 0.5* soft, soupy gray mud GS191-01PC (S) 3 100 0.5* soupy gray mud GS191-01PC (T) 2 100 0.9* soft gray clay with possibly forams (sands)

Figure 4.43: shear strength analysis of sediments with a) medium and b) large cones


59

GS191-01PC (U) 1 43 0.6* “ Shear strength key: *large vane ^ medium vane Table 4.14: Calypso core GS191-02PC, Isfjorden Drift

Labeling Section

No. Length

(cm) Shear

strength Sediment lithology

GS191-02PC (A) 19 16 0.8* dark gray mud with black patches GS191-02PC (B) 18 100 1.2* “ GS191-02PC (C) 17 100 1.8* “ GS191-02PC (D) 16 100 2.3* “ GS191-02PC (E) 15 100 2.5* “ GS191-02PC (F) 14 100 2.2* “ GS191-02PC (G) 13 77 0.8^ “ GS191-02PC (H) 12 100 1.2^ “ GS191-02PC (I) 11 100 1.0^ wet gray mud with few black patches GS191-02PC (J) 10 100 1.0^ wet gray mud with very few black patches GS191-02PC (K) 9 100 1.5^ structureless gray mud GS191-02PC (L) 8 100 1.2^ gray mud with silty mottles GS191-02PC (M) 7 92 1.5^ “ GS191-02PC (N) 6 100 1.8^ gray wet mud GS191-02PC (O) 5 100 1.8^ structureless gray mud GS191-02PC (P) 4 100 1.5^ structureless gray clay GS191-02PC (Q) 3 100 1.7^ clay with black silt GS191-02PC (R) 2 100 1.7^ gray clay GS191-02PC (S) 1 52 1.7^ soft gray clay

Shear strength key: *large vane ^ medium vane

The lithological sequence observed in

both cores suggests deposition occurred since last deglaciation following LGM. Dark gray sediments with black patches possibly representing IRD deposition, were previously described in this area and associated to the deglaciation phase (Lucchi et al., 2013 among others). Light gray/brownish mud with mottles may be more related to the Holocene onset of interglacial conditions. The down-core trends of the shear strength indicate in both Calypso cores, the presence of progressively more compacted sediments with depth without any sharp contact as possible indication of LGM glacial debris flows.

Figure 4.44: Down-core trends of shear strength measured at the bottom of the Calypso cores’ sections.

2 kg/cm20.5 1 1.5 2 kg/cm20

5

10

15

20

dept

h (m

)

Calypso core GS191-01PC

no data

0.5 1 1.5

Calypso core GS191-02PC


60

Micropaleontological investigation

Calypso core GS191- 01PC

Lower part of the core (20.67 – 5.33 m bsf): The preservation of foraminiferal tests in the lower part of the core is moderate to poor (Tab. 4.15). This interval is characterized by rare to less-common abundance of planktonic foraminifera. At 12.77 and 9.77 m bsf, there is an evident increase of planktonic foraminifera that become abundant. The polar species Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sin) is present throughout this core interval. Other species as the subpolar Turborotalita quinqueloba and Globigerina bulloides (e.g. Be and Tolderlund, 1971) are also present but only sporadically found. Benthic foraminifera abundance was evaluated as rare to less common between 20.67 – 5.33 m, with an assemblage formed by Arctic shelf – fjord faunas with e.g., Elphidium excavatum f. clavata, (cf. Hald and Korsun, 1997; Hald and Steinsund, 1992). Considering the bathymetric location of the coring site that is on the slope with water depth exceeding 1000 m, we assume that at least part of the benthic foraminiferal assemblages underwent reworking by some kind of sediment transport into the area. Eponides tumidulus and Cibicides wuellerstorfi are also present, although they are rare. These species are usually found at water depths greater than 1000 m (Belanger and Streeter, 1980) and therefore their presence in the sediments was interpreted as autochthonous (not transported). The sediment grains in this core interval consist mainly of angular quartz grains that are very abundant and present throughout. Black/dark gray grains are also present throughout the interval. Red and green grains are rare and only found at sporadic levels.

Upper part of the core (5.33 - 0 m bsf): The upper part of the core is characterized by the abundant presence of diatoms (Tab. 4.15). Sponge spicules are also present. The preservation of foraminifera tests becomes good. Planktonic foraminifera are common to very abundant with assemblage dominated by the polar species N. pachyderma (sin) with the presence of subpolar species as T. quinqueloba and G. bulloides, and Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (dex). The abundance of benthic foraminifera increases in this part of the core becoming common–abundant with a slightly different assemblage with reduced presence of shelf-fjord species (cf. Hald and Korsun, 1997; Hald and Steinsund, 1992) suggesting minor sediment reworking. The sediment grains are still dominated by angular quarts grains with an overall minor abundance (Tab. 4.15).

The diatoms first occurrence in GS191-01PC occur in section Q at 5.33 m bsf. From this depth, the diatoms are continuously present with high or low abundances in the rest of the upper part of the core. The most abundant taxa are the centric one, likely Coscinodiscus spp (Tab. 4.15).


61

Table 4.15: Micropaleontological investigation of Calypso core GS191-01PC

Planktonic species Benthic species Comments Stratigraphy

U 0.43 3 2 G 1 4 3 0 2 0 0 0

N. pachyderma (sin), N. pachyderma (dex), G. bulloides, T. quinqueloculina

Bolivina sp., C. wuellerstorfi, Islandiella spp., Lagena spp., N. labradorica, Stainforthia sp.

The angular quartz grains look slightly worn.

T 1.43 5 2 G 0 5 2 0 2 0 0 0


Bolivina sp.,E. tumidus?, C. reniforme, C. wuellerstorfi, E. excavatum f. clav., Islandiella spp., Lagena spp., Pyrgo williamsoni, Stainforthia sp., T. triangulosa

The angular quarts grains look slightly worn.

S 2.43 5 4 G 0 5 3 0 1 0 0 0


Bolivina sp., C. wuellerstorfi, Pullenia sp., Q. stalkeri


R 3.43 4 3 G 1 3 4 0 1 0 0 0


C. reniforme, C. wuellerstorfi, Cyklogyra sp., Lagena spp., Pullenia sp., O. umbonatus?


Q 4.33 3 2 G 5 5 0 0 1 0 0 0


Bolivina sp., C. wuellerstorfi, N. labradorica, Pullenia sp., O. umbonatus?, T. triangulosa

Part of benthic assemblage most likely re-worked.

Diatoms - correlate to early Holocene diatom layer 10,100 - 9,840 cal yr BP? (Jessen et al 2010)

P 5.33 4 3 G 5 5 1 0 1 0 1 0


C. reniforme, C. wuellerstorfi, Lagena spp., Pyrgo williamsoni, O. umbonatus?, Stainforthia sp.?



O 6.33 5 2 M 0 5 4 0 1 0 1 0N. pachyderma (sin), G. bulloides, T. quinqueloculina

Bolivina sp., C. reniforme, C. wuellerstorfi, Lagena spp., Pyrgo williamsoni, O. umbonatus?, T. triangulosa

early Holocene cf. Jessen et al (2010) stratigraphy?

N 7.11 2 1 M 0 0 5 0 3 0 0 0N. pachyderma (sin), T. quinqueloculina C. wuellestorfi

M 7.87 1 2 M 0 0 5 0 1 0 0 0N. pachyderma (sin), T. quinqueloculina

E. excavatum f. clav., C. reniforme, C. wuellestorfi, I. helenae, Stainforthia sp.


L 8.87 1 1 M 0 0 5 0 4 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin)E. excavatum f. clav., C. reniforme, C. wuellestorfi


K 9.77 4 1 M 0 0 5 0 1 1 1 0 N. pachyderma (sin) C. wuellestorfi

J 10.77 1 1 M 0 0 5 0 4 0 0 1 N. pachyderma (sin)Elphidium sp., C. wuellerstorfi, I. helenae


I 11.77 3 1 M 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0N. pachyderma (sin), T. quinqueloculina Bucella sp., C. reniforme


H 12.77 4 0 M 0 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin)

G 13.77 1 1 P 0 1 5 3 1 0 0 0N. pachyderma (sin), T. quinqueloculina

Bolivina sp., E. tumidus?, C. wuellerstorfi

F 14.77 2 1 P 0 0 5 0 0 1 1 0 N. pachyderma (sin)E. excavatum f. clav., C. wuellerstorfi


E 15.67 1 0 P 0 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin)

D 1667 1 1 P 0 0 5 0 3 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin), G. bulloidesA. gallowayi, M. barleanus, C. lobatulus, E. excavatum f. clav.


C 17.67 1 1 P 0 0 5 0 3 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin) C. lobatulus

B 18.67 1 0 P 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin), G. bulloides

A 19.67 na

CC 20.67 3

na= not analysed

Pyrite

Abundance legend: 5=very abundant; 4=abundant; 3=common; 2=less than common; 1=rare; 0=absentPreservation legend: VG=Very good; G=Good; M=Moderate; P=Poor

Se

ctio

n

m b

sf

Pla

nkto

nic

fo

ram

s

Be

nth

ic fo

ram

s

Pre

se

rva

tio

n

Dia

tom

s

Sp

on

ge

sp

icu

les

HP1: 14.5 - 19.5 kyr 14C; HP2: HP2: 22.5-29.0 kyr 14C. Advection of AW cf. Hald & Dokken 1996

An

gu

lar

qu

art

z

Su

bro

un

de

d q

ua

rtz

Bla

ck/d

ark

gra

y g

rain

s

Gre

en

gra

ins

Re

d g

rain

s


62

Calypso core GS191- 02PC

Lower part of the core (17.37 – 1.52 m bsf): The foraminiferal tests in the lower part of GS191-02 PC show an overall moderate preservation (Tab. 4.16). The planktonic foraminifera are rare to common, and they appear abundant only at the sample collected at the base of section K (8.44 m bsf). The polar species Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sin) is ubiquitously present and dominant throughout this core interval, whereas Turborotalita quinqueloba is present only in few sporadic levels. Benthic foraminifera are rare to common through the lower part of the core including many Arctic shelf-fjord species (cf. Hald and Korsun, 1997; Hald and Steinsund, 1992) as already observed in core GS191-01PC. Accordingly to what stated for the other Calypso core, the deep bathymetric location of site PC02, exceeding 1000 m of water depth, suggests that part of the benthic foraminiferal assemblages underwent reworking through some kind of sediment transport to site. The considered autochthonous benthic foraminiferal assemblage contains species such like Eponides tumidulus and Cibicides wuellerstorfi that are characteristic of water depths greater than 1000 m (e.g. Belanger and Streeter, 1980). Terrigenous/detritic grains are mainly composed of angular quartz grains. Black/dark gray grains are also abundant and present throughout the interval. Only one green grain was observed in the sample collected at 14.21 m bsf (Tab. 4.16).

Upper part of the core (1.52 - 0 m bsf): This interval is characterized by a reduced occurrence of planktonic foraminifera with a diatoms pick and a wider distribution of diatoms and sponge spicules. At 1.52 m bsf (base of section R), the diatom’s abundance is relatively low (less common abundance), whereas the sponge spicules are more abundant (common abundance). The preservation of foraminiferal tests is moderate. The planktonic foraminifera distribution is rare to less common, with assemblage dominated by the polar species N. pachyderma (sin) and some few specimens of the subpolar species as T. quinqueloba. The benthic foraminifera distribution is also rare to less common with assemblage very similar to what described in the lower part of the core including reworked/transported shelf-fjord species (cf. Hald and Korsun, 1997; Hald and Steinsund, 1992) with Cibicides wuellerstorfi representative of the slope environment. The terrigenous/detritic component is dominated by angular quartz grains that are common to very abundant. Black/dark gray grains are abundant at 1.52 m, but they disappear at 0.52 m bsf (base of section S, Tab. 4.16).

The first diatom appearance (even if with very low abundance) is recorded in section P (3.52 m bsf). The diatoms disappear at the base of the following section Q (2.52 m bsf), to re-appear with high abundance in section R (1.52 m bsf). Any diatom was observed at the base of the uppermost section S (0.52 m bsf). Centric taxa dominate the diatom’s assemblage also in this core as indicated for core Calypso GS191-01PC.


63

Table 4.16: Micropaleontological investigation of Calypso core GS191-02PC

Preliminary core correlation and stratigraphy

Dokken and Hald (1996) found six so-called high productivity zones (HP zones) throughout MIS 4 to MIS 2. The HP zones are characterized by a very abundant occurrence of planktonic foraminifera reflecting sea-ice free conditions and advection of relatively warm Atlantic water to Polar North Atlantic. The two youngest HP zones are dated to 22.5–29.0 14C ka and 14.5–19.5 14C

Planktonic species Benthic species Comments Stratigraphy

S 0.52 1 1 M 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 0N. pachyderma (sin), T. quinqueloba C. wuellerstorfi

The angular quarts grains look worn.

R 1.52 2 2 M 2 3 5 0 4 1 0 0N. pachyderma (sin), T. quinqueloba

E. excavatum f. clav., C. neoteretis, C. reniforme, C. wuellestorfi, M. barleanus, Pullenia sp., O. umbonatus?

The angular quarts grains look worn. Part of benthic assemblage most likely re-worked.


Q 2.52 1 3 G 0 0 3 5 4 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin)

C. neoteretis, C. reniforme, I. helenae, M. barleanus, T. triangulosa

The angular quarts grains look worn.

P 3.52 1 1 P 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 N. pachyderma (sin)C. neoteretis, C. wuellerstorfi

O 4.52 2 1 M-G 0 0 5 0 2 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin)E. excavatum f. clav., I. helenae, T. triangulosa


N 5.52 1 1 M 0 0 5 0 3 0 0 0N. pachyderma (sin), T. quinqueloba

C. reniforme, O. umbonatus?. Agglut: A. crassimargo, Textularia sp.

M 6.44 3 2 M 0 0 5 0 2 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin)

A. gallowayi, C. reniforme, C. wuellerstorfi, E. tumidus?, I. helenae, M. barleanus, O. umbonatus?. Agglut: A. glomeratum

Part of benthic assemblage re-worked?

L 7.44 1 1 M-P 0 0 5 0 3 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin) Fissurina sp.

K 8.44 4 2 M 0 0 5 0 3 0 0 0N. pachyderma (sin), T. quinqueloba

Elphidium sp., C. reniforme, C. wuellerstorfi, E. tumidus?, Lagena sp., Pullenia sp., O. umbonatus?


HP1: 14.5 - 19.5 kyr 14C; HP2: HP2: 22.5-29.0 kyr 14C. Advection of AW cf. Hald & Dokken 1996.

J 9.44 1 1 M 0 0 5 3 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin)E. excavatum f. clav., C. wuellestorfi, M. barleanus


I 10.44 1 1 M 0 0 5 0 3 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin) M. barleanus

H 11.44 1 M 0 0 5 0 3 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin)C. reniforme, N. turgida, Stainforthia sp.

G 12.21 2 1 M 0 0 5 0 3 0 0 0N. pachyderma (sin), T. quinqueloba

C. reniforme, N. labradorica


F 13.21 2 1 M 0 0 5 0 4 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin)

C. wuellestorfi, M. barleanus, O. umbonatus?

E 14.21 2 1 M 0 0 5 0 4 1 0 1 N. pachyderma (sin) M. barleanus

D 15.21 2 1 M 0 0 5 0 4 0 0 0N. pachyderma (sin), T. quinqueloculina I. helenae, M. barleanus

C 16.21 1 1 M 0 0 5 0 3 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin)Bolivina sp., E. excavatum f. clav.


B 17.21 naA 17.37 na

CC (top) 1 1 M 0 0 5 0 3 0 0 0 N. pachyderma (sin) C. wuellerstorfi

na= not analysed

Abundance legend: 5=very abundant; 4=abundant; 3=common; 2=less than common; 1=rare; 0=absentPreservation legend: VG=Very good; G=Good; M=Moderate; P=Poor

Sec

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ka respectively. It is speculated that the very abundant number of foraminifera tests found in the core catcher of Calypso core GS191-01PC at 20.67 m bsf, might represent one of these HP zones. A relatively higher amount of planktonic foraminifera was also observed at 12.77 and 9.77 m bsf suggesting that the HP zones may be also be represented by shallower intervals of core GS191-01PC. In core GS191-02PC a high amount of planktonic foraminifera was found at 8.44 m bsf that can potentially represent part of one of the youngest HP Zones (Fig. 4.45).

According to Jessen et al. (2010) the early Holocene (10.100 – 9.840 cal. yr BP) deposition West of Svalbard is characterized by the deposition of a diatoms ooze layer that can be used as marker bed. It is speculated that the occurrence of diatoms at 5.33 m bsf in core GS191-01PC and at 1.52 m bsf in GS191-02PC may be part of said interval, hence assigning a Holocene age for the upper ca. 5.5 m and ca. 1.5 m of the Calypso cores. On the other hand, the amount of diatoms observed in core GS191-02PC is not very high, and the benthic foraminiferal fauna does not change compared to the lower part of the core, hence an alternative age of the upper ca. 1.5 m bsf of core GS191-02PC might be assigned to late deglacial (MIS 2) stage rather than early Holocene (MIS 1).

Figure 4.45: Preliminary stratigraphic correlation between the two Calypso cores

GS191-01PC (bottom of sec) Bellsund Drift GS191-01PC (bottom of sec) Isfjorden DriftSection m bsf Stratigraphy Section m bsf Stratigraphy

1 (V) 0.43 1 (S) 0.52

2 (U) 1.43 2 (R) 1.5210,100 - 9,840 cal yr BP?*

3 (T) 2.43 3 (Q) 2.524 (S) 3.43 4 (P) 3.525 (R) 4.33 5 (O) 4.52

6 (Q) 5.33 10,100 - 9,840 cal yr BP*

6 (N) 5.527 (P) 6.33 7 (M) 6.448 (O) 7.11 8 (L) 7.44

9 (N) 7.87 9 (K) 8.4414.5–19.5 ka 14C or 22.5-29.0 ka 14C** or peak PF

10 (M) 8.87 10 (J) 9.4411 (L) 9.77 11 (I) 10.44

12 (K) 10.77 Peak of PF (HP zone?) 12 (H)

11.4413 (J) 11.77 13 (G) 12.2114 (I) 12.77 14 (F) 13.21

15 (H) 13.77Peak of PF (HP zone?) 15 (E) 14.21

16 (G) 14.77 16 (D) 15.2117 (F) 15.67 17 (C) 16.2118 (E) 1667 18 (B) 17.2119 (D) 17.67 19 (A) 17.3720 (C) 18.67 CC very top21 (B) 19.6722 (A) 20.67

CC bottom14.5 - 19.5 kyr 14C or 22.5-29.0 kyr 14C**

*early Holocene diatom layer 10,100 - 9,840 cal y BP (Jessen et al 2010)

** HP1: 14.5 - 19.5 ka 14C; HP2: HP2: 22.5-29.0 kyr 14C Advection of AW cf. Hald & Dokken 1996

PF = Planktonic Forams; HP = High Productivity


65

5. DATA AND SAMPLE STORAGE / AVAILABILITY (A. Caburlotto and R.G. Lucchi)

The full set of digitally recorded data during the cruise was automatically stored in the digital storage facilities onboard the R/V G.O Sars. Each partner made a full copy of the data set before to leave Tromsø at the end of the cruise. Those data will be available for the other partners participating to the PREPARED project.

Water and plankton samples collected during the cruise will be stored principally at the OGS, at the Oceanography Section laboratory facilities and at the Institute of Oceanology Polish academy of Sciences (IOPAS) (Tab. 5.1). OGS will store the Calypso Piston cores (Tab. 5.2) for preliminary, not destructive, analyses on which results will be plan the further sampling party, whereas single sediment sub-samples from Box cores will be stored at OGS, University of Pisa (UniPi), Polytechnic University of Marche (UniPM), University of Tromsø (UiT), and IOPAS as indicated in Table 5.3.

The data collected during the PREPARED project will be exclusively on the use of the PREPARED partners for the first 3 years after cruise collection according to Eurofleets 2 policy. After that time the data will be available to the rest of the scientific community.

Table 5.1: Water sampling and storage. bsl=below sea level

Station Sampling Analysis Storage Remarks

St. 7 Rosette sampler chemical characterization of water column OGS sampled at 5, 40, 120, 258 m bsl

Rosette sampler micro phytoplankton OGS sampled at 5, 40 m bsl Thermosalinograph micro zooplankton OGS sampled at 5 m bsl Rosette sampler Isotopic composition IOPAS sampled at 5, 40, 120, 258 m bsl Net 0-100m meso zooplankton OGS

St. 11 Rosette sampler chemical characterization of water column OGS sampled at 5, 25, 125, 270, 350

m bsl Rosette sampler micro phytoplankton OGS sampled at 5, 25 m bsl Thermosalinograph micro zooplankton OGS sampled at 5 m bsl Net upper 100m meso zooplankton OGS

St. 13 Rosette sampler chemical characterization of water column OGS sampled at 5, 70, 250, 375, 550,

653 m bsl Rosette sampler micro phytoplankton OGS sampled at 5, 70 m bsl Thermosalinograph micro zooplankton OGS sampled at 5 m bsl Net upper 100m meso zooplankton OGS

St. 15 Rosette sampler chemical characterization of water column OGS

sampled at 5, 18, 100, 200, 400, 600, 1000, 1200, 1400, 1651 m

bsl Rosette sampler micro phytoplankton OGS sampled at 5, 18 m bsl Thermosalinograph micro zooplankton OGS sampled at 5 m bsl Net upper 100m meso zooplankton OGS

St. 24 Rosette sampler chemical characterization of water column OGS sampled at 5, 45, 100, 150, 199

m bsl Rosette sampler micro phytoplankton OGS sampled at 5, 45 m bsl Thermosalinograph micro zooplankton OGS sampled at 5 m bsl


66

Net upper 100m meso zooplankton OGS




sampled at 10, 150, 300, 400, 600, 700, 900, 1050, 1300,

1500, 1625 m bsl Rosette sampler micro phytoplankton OGS sampled at 10, 150 m bsl Thermosalinograph micro zooplankton OGS sampled at 10 m bsl

Rosette sampler Isotopic composition IOPAS sampled at 5, 400, 1050, 1636 m bsl

Net upper 100m meso zooplankton OGS


sampled at 5, 60, 200, 500, 675, 900, 1100, 1300, 1500, 1700,


St. 36 Rosette sampler chemical characterization of water column OGS sampled at 5, 20, 100 m bsl

Rosette sampler micro phytoplankton OGS sampled at 5, 20 m bsl Thermosalinograph micro zooplankton OGS sampled at 5 m bsl Net upper 100m meso zooplankton OGS

St. 38 Rosette sampler chemical characterization of water column OGS sampled at 5, 60, 146 m bsl

Rosette sampler micro phytoplankton OGS sampled at 5, 60 m bsl Thermosalinograph micro zooplankton OGS sampled at 5 m bsl Net upper 100m meso zooplankton OGS


800, 955 m bsl Rosette sampler micro phytoplankton OGS sampled at 5, 30 m bsl Thermosalinograph micro zooplankton OGS sampled at 5 m bsl Net upper 100m meso zooplankton OGS


sampled at 10, 40, 180, 400, 540, 800, 1100, 1400, 1700,



472, 575, 700, 850, 1040 Rosette sampler micro phytoplankton OGS sampled at 5, 45 m bsl Thermosalinograph micro zooplankton OGS sampled at 5 m bsl Net upper 100m meso zooplankton OGS

Table 5.2: Calypso piston corer storage and availability

Station CALYPSO-core Recovery (cm) Sections Storage

BD GS191-01PC 1967 21 OGS (+4°C) ID1 GS191-02PC 1737 19 OGS (+4°C)


67

Table 5.3: Box cores sub-sampling and storage

Station Box-core Sub-samplig Recovery

(cm) Analysis Storage Remarks

St. 7 GS191 01BC core Ø 3.6 cm 17 Living benthic foraminifera UniPi ( -20°C)

GS191 01BC core Ø 3.6 cm 18 Living benthic foraminifera UniPi ( -20°C)

GS191 01BC core Ø 11.5 cm 21 Living benthic

foraminifera and geochemistry

UniPi ( -20°C)

GS191 01BC core Ø 11.5 cm 24 sedimentological analysis OGS ( +4°C)

GS191 01BC core Ø 11.5 cm 21 sedimentological analysis UiT ( +4°C)

GS191 01BC core Ø 8 cm 21 microfossil analysis

OGS, UniPi (+4°C)

sampled every 1 cm

GS191 01BC petri dish 0-2 Corg. UniPM ( -20°C) GS191 01BC Falcon 50 ml 0-2 Mg/Ca UniPM ( -20°C)

GS191 01BC Falcon 15 ml 0-2 proteins benthic foraminifera UniPM (-20°C) sieved at

125 microns

GS191 01BC 2 small plastic jar 0-2

Living benthic foraminifera and

geochemistry IOPAS

treated with Bengal-

Rose

GS191 01BC n.1, 10x15 bag 0-1 microplastic litter

Emy Lusher GMIT





UniPi ( -20°C)




OGS, UniPi (+4°C)

sampled every 1 cm

GS191 02BC petri dish 0-2 Corg, UniPM ( -20°C) GS191 02BC Falcon 50 ml 0-2 Mg/Ca UniPM ( -20°C)

GS191 02BC Falcon 15 ml 0-2 proteins benthic foraminifera UniPM (-20°C) sieved at

125 microns

GS191 02BC plastic bag 0-10 exercise for student UniPi

GS191 02BC plastic bag 15-22 exercise for student UniPi



geochemistry IOPAS


Rose

GS191 02BC n.1, 10x15 bag 0-2 microplastic litter

Emy Lusher GMIT

St. S1 GS191 03BC empty 1 pebble +4°C


68





UniPi ( -20°C)




OGS, UniPi (+4°C)

sampled every 1 cm

GS191 04BC petri dish 0-2 Corg, UniPM ( -20°C) GS191 04BC Falcon 50 ml 0-2 Mg/Ca UniPM ( -20°C)

GS191 04BC Falcon 15 ml 0-2 proteins benthic foraminifera UniPM (-20°C) sampled

every 1 cm



geochemistry IOPAS


Rose GS191 04BC n.1, 10x15 bag 0-2 Emy Lusher GMIT

St. S1 GS191 05BC 1 pebble - compositional analyses UniPi ( +4°C)

St. 555 GS191 06BC n.1, 10x15 bag 0-2 composition and

microfossil analysis

OGS, UniPi ( +4°C)

sieved at 63 microns

GS191 06BC 2 cores Ø 5 cm 0-20 microplastic litter

Emy Lusher GMIT

6. CRUISE PARTICIPANTS (R.G. Lucchi and V Kovacevic)

The scientific party was formed by 24 scientists participating to the PREPARED project (Tab. 6.1, and Appendix H), two Eurofleets-2 students from the University of Dublin, Amy Lusher and Heidi Acampora, working on the project Polar Plastics, and four technicians from the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research of Bergen in charge for the operation with the Calypso piston corer (Dag Inge Blindheim and Åse Sudman), the PARASOUND sub-bottom and multi-beam survey (Martin Dahl) and for the CTD/Rosette (Ingve Fjelstad). In addition, the PREPARED project included, for the first time within a Eurofleet cruise, a high-school teacher (Realdon Giulia) assigned to PREPARED by the EGU Committee on Education through the Geosciences Information for Teachers (GIFT) program (http://www.egu.eu/education/gift/).

Table 6.1: PREPARED Project cruise participants

No Name Affiliation On-board tasks

1 Lucchi Renata G. OGS Co-chief scientist and project coordinator, sedimentology

2 Kovacevic Vedrana OGS Co-chief scientist, physical oceanography 3 Aliani Stefano CNR Mooring assemblage and deployment


69

4 Caburlotto Andrea OGS Core handling, subsampling 5 Celussi Mauro OGS Rosette water analyses 6 Corgnati Lorenzo CNR Mooring deployment and filming 7 Cosoli Simone OGS Underway measurements and CTD profiles 8 Deponte Davide OGS Mooring assemblage and deployment 9 Ersdal Eli Anne* UNIS CTD profiles, underway metheo data 10 Fredriksson Sam* UNIGOT Mooring assemblage and deployment 11 Goszczko Ilona* IOPAS CTD profiles and transects interpretation 12 Husum Katrine NPI Core sampling and micropaleontology 13 Ingrosso Gianmarco* OGS Rosette water sampling 14 Laberg Jan Sverre UiT Acoustic survey, sediment shear strenght 15 Lacka Magdalena* IOPAS Water and sediment sampling, CTD profile 16 Langone Leonardo CNR Moorings assemblage and deployment 17 Masutti Paolo OGS Moorings assemblage and deployment 18 Mezgec Karin* UNISI Core sampling and micropaleontology 19 Morigi Caterina UNIPI Core sampling and micropaleontology 20 Ponomarenko Ekaterina* AWI Core sampling and micropaleontology 21 Skogseth Ragnheid UNIS CTD profiles and transects interpretation 22 Realdon Giulia EGU-GIFT CTD profiles, Teacher at Sea 23 Relitti Federica OGS Rosette water sampling 24 Robijn Ardo* UNIGOT Moorings assemblage and deployment

25 Tirelli Valentina OGS Surface water sampling for plankton

and microplastics litter * Student

OGS National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics, Trieste, Italy

CNR Italian National Research Council – ISMAR Bologna and La Spezia, Italy

UNISI University of Siena, Siena, Italy

UNIPI University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

UNIS University of Svalbard, Svalbard, Norway

UNIGOT University of Gothenburg, Sweden

IOPAS Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences

NPI Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsø, Norway

UiT University of Tromsø, Norway

AWI Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Germany


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7. STATION LIST (S. Aliani, V. Kovacevic and R.G. Lucchi)

A list of stations sorted by gear’s type is reported in the following. The sites’ locations are indicated in the maps of Appendix A–F, whereas Table 2.1 report the station list chronologically sorted according to the G.O. Sars survey reporting tool.

Station Station type date Time Latitude N Longitude E Depth RemarksNo. Gear dd.mm.yyyy UTC m

T1 CTD + Rosette 06.06.2014 17:49 74°16.0098 18°35.0202 51.85 test on transit6 CTD 07.06.2014 4:00 75°55.3200 18°46.1598 122.075 CTD 07.06.2014 5:38 76°00.1302 18°24.3336 163.164 CTD 07.06.2014 6:56 76°04.5330 18°02.3880 233.493 CTD + Rosette 07.06.2014 7:57 76°09.2526 17°40.3914 300.002 CTD + Rosette 07.06.2014 9:30 76°14.2602 17°15.4200 281.561 CTD + Rosette 07.06.2014 10:38 76°18.3708 16°57.0294 175.127 CTD + Rosette 07.06.2014 14:25 76°20.6010 18°44.5536 262.728 CTD 07.06.2014 16:38 76°17.5038 17°58.1202 267.239 CTD + Rosette 07.06.2014 18:00 76°14.2602 17°15.2802 281.74

10 CTD 07.06.2014 19:26 76°12.0402 16°27.0168 247.0711 CTD + Rosette 07.06.2014 21:17 76°09.0282 15°39.5406 357.6412 CTD 07.06.2014 23:08 76°05.6988 14°53.2518 346.4713 CTD + Rosette 08.06.2014 1:08 76°02.5998 14°07.3020 655.1414 CTD 08.06.2014 3:15 76°00.0534 13°21.1998 25.3515 CTD + Rosette 08.06.2014 6:01 75°57.0000 12°34.0002 1657.8915 CTD + Rosette (II cast) 08.06.2014 7:58 75°57.0000 12°33.9900 1658.14S1 CTD + Rosette 09.06.2014 1:48 76°26.1714 13°56.5398 1046.13 multibeam calibration24 CTD + Rosette 09.06.2014 8:13 76°40.4598 14°35.7402 211.2525 CTD + Rosette 09.06.2014 9:57 76°43.1100 13°55.5000 164.3826 CTD + Rosette 09.06.2014 11:32 76°39.2736 13°30.8436 433.1227 CTD + Rosette 09.06.2014 12:45 76°35.3100 13°07.4598 1272.49

28=BD CTD + Rosette 09.06.2014 15:02 76°31.4202 12°43.9800 1639.7528=BD CTD + Rosette (II cast) 09.06.2014 17:17 76°31.3002 12°44.2902 1642.37

29 CTD + Rosette 09.06.2014 18:48 76°27.3600 12°20.2392 1786.2930 CTD + Rosette 09.06.2014 21:26 76°23.4198 11°56.3778 1913.10 five sampling depths30 CTD + Rosette (II cast) 09.06.2014 23:48 76°23.4186 11°56.3754 1912.61

ID1-mb CTD 10.06.2014 7:48 77°37.0488 10°11.0358 1240.74 calibration multibeamID2 CTD 10.06.2014 19:18 77°38.7600 10°16.8930 1038.16ID1 CTD 11.10.2014 1:36 77°35.3502 10°05.5056 1323.5645 CTD + Rosette 11.10.2014 7:07 77°22.8390 08°28.8384 1057.8045 CTD + Rosette (II cast) 11.10.2014 8:53 77°22.8024 08°28.8114 1061.8244 CTD 11.10.2014 10:09 77°26.1372 08°54.3504 1574.0643 CTD + Rosette 11.10.2014 12:01 77°29.6598 09°19.3002 1937.5043 CTD + Rosette (II cast) 11.10.2014 14:04 77°29.2476 09°19.2294 1950.6342 CTD 11.10.2014 15:30 77°33.0498 09°44.9898 1564.9141 CTD 11.10.2014 17:18 77°36.5118 10°10.3608 1501.9040 CTD + Rosette 11.10.2014 18:46 77°38.4402 10°22.3398 957.8939 CTD 11.10.2014 20:29 77°41.1702 10°44.8818 303.5938 CTD + Rosette 11.10.2014 22:07 77°46.8900 11°26.4000 154.8937 CTD 11.10.2014 23:35 77°52.4562 12°07.9620 56.1236 CTD + Rosette 12.06.2014 1:15 77°58.1130 12°49.6908 106.0835 CTD 12.06.2014 2:49 78°03.6600 13°29.0700 293.92

659 CTD 12.06.2014 14:12 76°50.4456 13°03.3414 278.58 mesoscale transect658 CTD 12.06.2014 14:54 76°51.3834 13°17.9718 198.16 mesoscale transect657 CTD 12.06.2014 15:31 76°52.8222 13°29.8842 115.20 mesoscale transect656 CTD 12.06.2014 16:03 76°53.7138 13°44.8992 94.24 mesoscale transect655 CTD 12.06.2014 16:34 76°54.6762 13°57.7962 84.44 mesoscale transect654 CTD 12.06.2014 17:06 76°55.6464 14°11.7546 87.95 mesoscale transect653 CTD 12.06.2014 17:36 76°56.8614 14°24.3066 126.40 mesoscale transect652 CTD 12.06.2014 18:09 76°57.9516 14°37.1550 97.64 mesoscale transect651 CTD 12.06.2014 18:45 76°59.2830 14°51.1956 141.08 mesoscale transect650 CTD 12.06.2014 19:27 77°00.6300 15°03.8400 71.21 mesoscale transect


71


559 CTD 13.06.2014 4:07 76°20.9700 16°56.1498 98.78558 CTD 13.06.2014 6:48 76°16.8216 17°11.8218 243.60557 CTD 13.06.2014 9:09 76°11.3982 17°31.9278 317.41556 CTD 13.06.2014 10:12 76°06.5010 17°47.7894 292.08555 CTD 13.06.2014 11:20 76°01.1946 18°11.1420 198.5955 CTD 13.06.2014 12:35 75°58.6698 18°26.8800 150.49

6 CTD 13.06.2014 13:28 75°55.1376 18°48.6492 110.597 Plankton-net start 07.06.2014 14:47 76°20.5998 18°44.5554 262.817 Plankton-net stop 07.06.2014 15:03 76°20.6004 18°44.5584 262.78

11 Plankton-net start 07.06.2014 21:42 76°09.0276 15°39.5430 357.5711 Plankton-net stop 07.06.2014 21:52 76°09.0264 15°39.5400 357.6013 Plankton-net start 08.06.2014 1:45 76°02.6700 14°07.8102 649.5713 Plankton-net stop 08.06.2014 1:56 76°02.7192 14°08.1756 643.6215 Plankton-net start 08.06.2014 5:52 75°57.0012 12°33.9936 1657.8915 Plankton-net stop 08.06.2014 6:00 75°56.9994 12°33.9888 1657.7924 Plankton-net start 09.06.2014 8:36 76°40.4598 14°35.7384 211.0424 Plankton-net stop 09.06.2014 8:50 76°40.5102 14°35.5602 210.4226 Plankton-net start 09.06.2014 11:21 76°39.2118 13°31.0404 437.8226 Plankton-net stop 09.06.2014 11:32 76°39.2700 13°30.8502 433.13

28=BD Plankton-net start 09.06.2014 14:51 76°31.3302 12°44.2500 1641.5728=BD Plankton-net stop 09.06.2014 15:01 76°31.4046 12°44.0124 1640.04

30 Plankton-net start 09.06.2014 21:12 76°23.4174 11°56.3766 1899.5430 Plankton-net stop 09.06.2014 21:22 76°23.4198 11°56.3700 1912.8645 Plankton-net start 10.06.2014 6:50 77°22.8390 08°28.8384 1053.6645 Plankton-net stop 10.06.2014 7:07 77°22.8390 08°28.8384 1053.6643 Plankton-net start 10.06.2014 11:51 77°29.6610 09°19.3044 1934.8643 Plankton-net stop 10.06.2014 12:01 77°29.6598 09°19.3002 1934.3640 Plankton-net start 10.06.2014 18:31 77°38.4168 10°22.6122 954.8440 Plankton-net stop 10.06.2014 18:42 77°38.4498 10°22.3398 957.7238 Plankton-net start 10.06.2014 21:45 77°46.7778 11°26.3532 298.2738 Plankton-net stop 10.06.2014 21:55 77°46.8402 11°26.2200 155.0936 Plankton-net start 12.06.2014 1:07 77°58.0500 12°49.5600 104.3236 Plankton-net stop 12.06.2014 1:15 77°58.1100 12°49.6902 106.05M1 Manta net start 06.06.2014 13:08 73°28.0032 18°31.6320 444.56M1 Manta net stop 06.06.2014 13:28 73°28.3464 18°31.7550 437.55M2 Manta net (fail) 06.06.2014 18:22 74°16.2600 18°35.7900 58.75M3 Manta net start 07.06.2014 5:55 76°00.1500 18°24.2598 163.41M3 Manta net stop 07.06.2014 6:15 76°00.3702 18°23.2398 167.48M4 Manta net start 07.06.2014 8:23 76°09.3066 17°40.1580 301.34M4 Manta net stop 07.06.2014 8:43 76°09.5412 17°39.1776 305.61M5 Manta net start 07.06.2014 11:07 76°18.3702 16°57.2202 175.34M5 Manta net stop 07.06.2014 11:27 76°18.4200 16°59.3298 185.53M6 Manta net start 07.06.2014 13:50 76°20.5500 18°43.3098 259.06M6 Manta net stop 07.06.2014 14:10 76°20.6592 18°45.3984 263.81M7 Manta net start 07.06.2014 19:45 76°12.0402 16°26.8698 246.75M7 Manta net stop 07.06.2014 20:05 76°11.9766 16°25.5030 247.67M8 Manta net start 07.06.2014 23:31 76°05.6874 14°53.1216 346.60M8 Manta net stop 07.06.2014 23:52 76°05.5620 14°51.8352 347.17M9 Manta net start 08.06.2014 4:13 75°59.7510 13°20.0412 1250.19M9 Manta net stop 08.06.2014 4:33 75°59.5608 13°18.8766 1259.31

M10 Manta net start 09.06.2014 6:17 76°26.3436 13°56.3856 1049.45M10 Manta net stop 09.06.2014 6:37 76°26.6700 13°56.7000 1045.65M11 Manta net start 09.06.2014 10:15 76°43.0440 13°55.3356 165.49M11 Manta net stop 09.06.2014 10:35 76°42.8502 13°54.1500 171.85M12 Manta net start 09.06.2014 13:49 76°35.2770 13°07.2276 1276.99


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8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like as first to acknowledge the program Eurofleets-2 for giving us the opportunity

to run our research program. The results obtained during this cruise were beyond our

expectation. Thanks goes to Captain John Hugo Johnson for his professionalism, kindness and

willingness to accommodate our (continuous) requests, and all the crew of the G.O. Sars

expedition 191 for dedication and competence during all acquisition activities and for welcoming

us onboard. The technicians Martin Dahl, Ingve Fjelstad, Dag Inge Blindheim and Åse Sudman

gave strong support during the acquisition activities and helped for the cruise report. Special

tanks goes also to Per Wilhelm Nieuwejaar for invaluable help given during the cruise

preparation as well as the Eurofleets-2 evaluation office staff: Veronica Willmott, Pilar and

Nicole. And finally, Jan Johansen and Randi Sivertsen that helped for customs clearances, and

embark/desembark of the cruise equipment to/from the R/V G.O. Sars.


M17 Manta net start 10.06.2014 19:32 77°38.4798 10°22.5402 951.42M17 Manta net stop 10.06.2014 19:52 77°38.6676 10°23.8254 916.44M18 Manta net start 10.06.2014 22:13 77°46.9248 11°26.7672 152.75M18 Manta net stop 10.06.2014 22:33 77°47.0400 11°27.9498 144.71M19 Manta Net Stop 12.06.2014 0:06 77°52.7028 12°09.7680 60.30M20 Manta net start 12.06.2014 1:29 77°58.1988 12°50.1102 106.36M20 Manta net stop 12.06.2014 1:50 77°58.5462 12°52.4286 107.55M21 Manta net start 12.06.2014 3:08 78°03.6822 13°29.0394 296.61M21 Manta net stop 12.06.2014 3:28 78°03.9954 13°28.4892 0.00

S1 mooring S1 start deployment 09.06.2014 4:00 76°26.1726 13°56.5296 1043.32S1 mooring S1 end deployment 09.06.2014 5:52 76°26.2878 13°56.9040 1043.32

ID2 Mooring ID2 start deployment 10.06.2014 22:30 77°38.7618 10°16.8942 1038.14ID2 Mooring ID2 end deployment 10.06.2014 23:44 77°38.7618 10°16.8942 1038.14ID1 Mooring ID1 11.06.2014 2:35 77°35.3472 10°05.4930 1318.28ID1 Mooring ID1 end deployment 11.06.2014 3:26 77°35.3472 10°05.4930 1318.28

7 Box core GS191-01BC 07.06.2014 15:06 76°20.6004 18°44.5650 262.82 max penetration 24 cmBD Box core GS191-02BC 08.06.2014 20:43 76°31.3002 12°44.2998 1647.32 max penetration 25 cmS1 Box core first attempt 09.06.2014 2:41 76°26.1702 13°56.5398 1045.78 trigger system failS1 Box core second attempt 09.06.2014 3:46 76°26.1726 13°56.5296 1046.14 empty

ID1 Box core GS191-04BC 10.06.2014 12:33 77°35.3502 10°05.4954 1322.52 max penetration 29 cmID2 Box core first attempt 10.06.2014 20:11 77°38.7582 10°16.8954 1038.25 emptyID2 Box core GS191-05BC 10.06.2014 21:28 77°38.7612 10°16.8954 1038.25 only few coarse sedim.559 Box core (microplastics) 13.06.2014 4:34 76°20.9214 16°55.9866 99.38 empty, strong bottom courrents559 Box core second attempt 13.06.2014 5:43 76°18.9774 17°03.8676 188.62 empty, strong bottom courrents558 Box core (microplastics) 13.06.2014 7:09 76°16.8354 17°11.8866 244.92 empty, strong bottom courrents555 Box core (microplastics) 13.06.2014 11:36 76°01.1964 18°11.1426 198.39 max penetration 10 cmBD Calypso Core GS191-01PC 08.06.2014 17:00 76°31.3002 12°44.2998 1646.82 19,67 m recoveryID1 Calypso Core GS191-02PC 10.06.2014 15:42 77°35.3502 10°05.4900 1321.84 17.37 m recovery


73

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76

Appendix – A

CTD and CTD/Rosette sites location map


77

Appendix – B

WP2-plankton net location map


78

Appendix – C

Manta-net location map


79

Appendix – D

Moorings location map


80

Appendix – E

Box core location map (Note: the box cores at sites 559, 9, 558, and 555 across the Storfjorden trough were performed for microplastic litter)


81

Appendix – F

Calypso piston cores location map


82

Appendix – G

R/V G.O. SARS, survey 2014109


83

Appendix – G (continue)



84




85




86




87




88

Appendix – H

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