BUSCADOR RECOLECTA

OBSEA Cruise (29SG20090520) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2009, OBSEA underwater observatory deployment in the Garraf coast

BIOFUN-1 Cruise (29SG20090529) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2009, Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in contrasting southern European deep-sea environments: from viruses to megafauna . The aim of BIOFUN is to characterise, under an ecosystem approach, two deep-sea habitats – the mid-slope and abyssal plain – including for the first time the analysis from viruses to megafauna, to understand the linkages between biodiversity patterns and ecosystem functioning in relation to environmental conditions along a gradient of increased oligotrophy from West to East. The BIOFUN team proposes a multidisciplinary coordinated research programme to investigate the Algerian-Balearic Basin (1000-3000 m), the Ionian Sea including the Messina Abyssal Plain (1000-4100 m depth) and the Levantine Basin (1000-3100 m depth) in the Mediterranean and the Galicia Bank in the Atlantic

CAIBOX Cruise (29SG20090706) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2009, Shelf-Ocean exchanges in the canaries-iberian large marine ecosystem. Oceanic regions like the Canaries–Iberian Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) have an importance disproportionate to their area because the wind–driven upwelling of nutrient–rich sub–surface waters into the photic layer promotes a blooming of phytoplankton, leading to high secondary production, large stocks of economically important exploitable species, and general enhancement of biogeochemical activity including the exchange of the greenhouse gas CO2 and other fluxes. Unlike other coastal upwelling regions, the oceanic waters adjacent to the Canaries–Iberian LME experiences considerable subduction, because of the Mediterranean Water formation in the Strait of Gibraltar. This phenomenon causes a pronounced heterotrophy in the mesopelagic (thermocline) waters of the surrounding area. At the same time, the narrow but extended coastal upwelling system can export its excess production to the impoverished epipelagic (surface mixed layer) ocean waters by means of upwelling filaments that extend hundreds of kilometres offshore. Despite various investigations of such coastal transition zones, definitive knowledge of the resultant exchange of water parcels, gasses, dissolved and suspended organic and inorganic materials and planktonic biota between near–shore and open ocean is still lacking. In this project we aim to provide a new level of understanding of the time–varying horizontal and vertical exchanges of water parcels and their properties between the upwelling/productive Canaries–Iberian Large Marine Ecosystem and the subducting/oligotrophic open ocean. Through intensive inter–disciplinary observations and modelling in two areas of recurrent and persistent filament systems we will determine how mesoscale interactions between upwelling, current jets, filaments, and eddies govern the fate of water parcels and their dissolved, particulate and planktonic content as they pass through the coastal transition zone. The two contrasting systems selected are the filament at 42ºN, which develops in the summer upwelling off the fishing ground of Cape Silleiro (NW Spain) and that at 30ºN, which persists in the year round upwelling off the fishing ground of Cape Guir (Morocco)

FAMOSO-3 Cruise (29SG20090914) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2009, FAMOSO (Fate of the northwestern Mediterranean open sea spring bloom), an investigation project on oceanic plankton and biogeochemical dynamics north of the IDEADOS area. During The 3 cruises sampled different oceanographic conditions, starting with early stages of the late winter-early spring bloom, followed by the late stage of the bloom, and finally summer stratification .Starting with the late winter-early spring phytoplankton bloom in FAMOSO-1: (14 to 22 March) the post-bloom in FAMOSO-2 ( 30 April to 13 May) and the late stratification in FAMOSO-3 ( 17 to 19 September). During these cruises, conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) profiles were conducted with a SBE911plus probe (SeaBird Electronics) attached to a rosette equipped with Niskin bottles. Samples were collected from 19 CTD casts for the determination of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphate, as well as picoplankton abundance and cell properties. Wind speed data were collected by the onboard meteorological station

DIVA-ARTABRIA-II Cruise (29SG20090930) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2009, Biodiversity of the deep seafloor of the Galician coast. The objective is to study biodiversity, distribution and variability of the fauna on the west coast of Galicia between 100 and 3,000 m deep, using acoustic, seismic and sampling systems

GEOSTAR-1 Cruise (29SG20091105) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2009, GEOSTAR observatory and surface relay buoy deployment

IDEADOS-09 Cruise (29SG20091130) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2009, Benthopelagic ecosystem structure in the western Mediterranean: a multidisciplinary approach and different time scales in the Balearic Islands.The overall objective is to determine relationships between environmental conditions and nekto-benthic slope communities in two areas of the western Mediterranean, with distinct geomorphologic and hydrodynamic characteristics. Sub- Objectives 1.To determine the effect that seasonal variability of the hydrodynamics has on the species and communities of the slope and on their trophic resources along the water column, by means of the study of the various compartments of the zooplankton (micro-, meso- and macro-zooplankton) and nekton (micro- and macro-nekton). 2. To determine the viability of applying acoustic methods for the characterization of the communities in the Deep Scattering Layers (DSL) of the meso-pelagic domain.3. To determine the influence of the high frequency variability (daily, fortnightly and/or monthly) of the oceanographic conditions on the biology and dynamics of the red shrimp. 4. To contextualize the oligotrophic ecosystems of the Balearic Islands from a global perspective, including adjacent areas of western Mediterranean, from: (i) the estimation of the degree of connectivity between populations of the continental margin of the north-western Mediterranean and the Balearic Islands, using geochemical markers in hake otoliths; and, (ii) the analysis of information from fishing exploitation on the peninsular coast and the archipelago

MEDOC Cruise (29SG20100407) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2010, The Western Mediterranean basin: a natural laboratory of the processes of formation of continental margins extension. During the cruise collected 16 Multichannel Seismic Reflection (MCS) profiles using a 3.75 km-long streamer and a 3000 c.i. G-II gun array. Each transect provides the tectonic structure, the geometry of sedimentary deposits, and P-wave seismic velocity distribution. This information allows to interpret the mechanisms of deformation, infer the importance and potential role of magmatism in the rifting process, and estimate the region of mantle exhumation, currently inferred from one drill site. The analysis of the data provides insight in the process of formation of asymmetry structure conjugated margins

EVENT-DEEP Cruise (29SG20100513) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2010, During the EVENT-DEEP survey (May 10th-June 7th 2010, research vessel B/O Sarmiento de Gamboa) the Yussuf Fault, located on the bisector of the Alboran Sea, and the Al-Hoceima Fault, located in the territorial waters of Morocco, have been investigated. Multibeam echosounder, high-resolution and high-penetration multichannel seismics, sub-bottom seismic profiling and gravity data have been acquired during the cruise. This new dataset will allow us to characterize the geometry of the faults and obtain earthquake recurrence intervals. In addition, images and samples of deep corals in the Bank of Chella and Alborán Ridge have also been acquired

SAGAS-BIS Cruise (29SG20100609) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2010, The Gibraltar Arc System: Geodynamic Processes in the South Margin. The SAGASbis project intends to study, through a multidisciplinary geological and geophysical approach, the recent evolution of the Spanish margin and the Alborán Sea basins, with the aim of 1) better understanding the dynamics of the external processes responsible for morphology and sedimentation in the South-Iberian continental margins 2) analyze the interrelation between deep and superficial processes 3) determine the stratigraphic architecture in adjacent margin and basin segments and 4) characterize submarine and paleoseismic morphologies, paying special attention to turbiditic and instability systems Plio-Quaternary sedimentary. The area under study is located in a region where there are considerable earthquakes and underwater landslides, which is why this project is of great interest in order to design preventive actions and contingency plans for geological and environmental risks. At the same time, the exploration of this area will serve to detect the presence of hydrocarbons. This project has carried out a geological campaign aimed at the acquisition of acoustic and seismic data from the seabed and the collection of sediment cores