IBERIA-FORAMS Cruise, RV García del Cid

Abstract

The Iberia-Forams cruise on R/V Garcia del Cid started in Vigo (Spain) on September 10th, 2012 and ended in Huelva (Spain) in the morning of September 16th, 2012. Along the cruise track CTD profiles and seawater samples were collected at 12 stations. Multiple opening closing plankton net (Multi-Net) hauls for plankton ecology studies were performed at 10 of those stations. At stations 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, and 12 an additional Multi-Net haul was executed to retrieved planktonic foraminifers for molecular phylogeny studies. Multi-sensor CTD profiles were done until close to the seafloor (depth range of 324 – 2559 m). Measured parameters include temperature, pressure, salinity, flourescence, oxygen content, and turbidity. The seawater samples, collected primarily for stable isotope analyses, cover the complete water column and sample all the water masses identified at the respective station. Thermocline and flourescence maxima depths encountered during the cruise were relative shallow and indicate that none of the stations sampled an upwelling event . Seawater samples from the upper 300 m were filtered to collect coccolithophorids. For all seawater samples the pH was determined as onboard measurement