Study area
Our primary study area is the SW Iberian margin. This region has played a pivotal role in our understanding of short term climate variability since Sir Nicholas Shackleton and colleagues demonstrated climate signals recorded in Arctic and Antarctic ice-core records could be respectively recognized in oxygen isotopic records of surface and deep water masses from sediment sequences retrieved at the SW Iberian Margin
PASSAGE is based on an integrative approach, which explores processes from the surface ocean to deep sea sediments..
The sampling program strategized here aims at collecting suspended particulate material (via in situ pumping/filtration), settling particles (via sediment trap), and surface sediment samples (multicores) during several cruises planned a few months apart.
We will also deploy, for the first time in the SW Iberian margin, two mooring lines located in a longitudinal transect of the continental slope. Each mooring will host 2 and 3 sediment traps, respectively, and multiple current and turbidity meters and temperature and salinity sensors to intercept and characterise specific subsurface, intermediate and bottom water masses.
This will constitute the first sediment trap study implemented in this region and will allow us to discern between the influence of along- and down-slope transport mechanisms, coastal and offshore processes, and nepheloid layers associated to specific water masses, on the transport of the different components.
During our first cruise, PASSAGE23, we will deploy two mooring lines with two sediment traps each and several hydrographic sensors to measure temperature, salinity, turbidity and current speed during 12 months. We will also sample surface sediments along and across the slope, measure CTD profiles and filter water.
For our cruises, we count on the support from the FLOTA: https://www.ciencia.gob.es/Organismos-y-Centros/ICTS/CienciasMar/FLOTA.html
and the Unidad de Tecnología Marina (UTM): http://www.utm.csic.es/es/home
PASSAGE23 is scheduled for 14-23 December 2023 onboard B/O Ramón Margalef
Our primary study area is the SW Iberian margin. This region has played a pivotal role in our understanding of short term climate variability since Sir Nicholas Shackleton and colleagues demonstrated climate signals recorded in Arctic and Antarctic ice-core records could be respectively recognized in oxygen isotopic records of surface and deep water masses from sediment sequences retrieved at the SW Iberian Margin