BUSCADOR RECOLECTA

FUGRO-1 Cruise (29SG20121108) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2012, Fugro Black Sea cruise

SPURS-MIDAS Cruise (29SG20130316) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2013, MIDAS (SMOS ocean salinity and soil moisture products. Improvements and applications demonstration) SPURS experiment (Salinity Processes in the Upper ocean Regional Study). Realization a wide range of mesoscale and submesoscale measurements to contribute understanding the mechanisms of formation and permanence of the largest ocean salinity maximum in the centre of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre. Several standard and prototype instruments are used in measuring sea surface salinity and other ocean variables

BIOCANT-3_LEG1 Cruise (29SG20130424) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2013, The objective of the DOS MARES project is twofold. First, we aim at understanding the effects of the atmospheric teleconnections between the Cantabrian Sea and the north-western Mediterranean Sea, and their impacts on the deep ecosystem, both pelagic and benthic. Second, we want to know in which way the transfer of the signal from the external forcings towards the deep ecosystem controls the community structure and the population dynamics. Thus, in March 2012 we deployed 6 mooring lines equipped with sediment traps and currentmeters in the Avilés and Gaviera canyons and the slope. In September 2012 the moorings were successfully recovered and redeployed again, and during this cruise DOSMARES BIOCANT3 they have been finally recovered and the 1-year monitoring effort finalised. In addition, CTD profiling has been performed to characterise the biological and physical structure of the water column (including the acquisition of discrete water samples), multicorers have been obtained to characterise the geochemical properties of surface sediments, and a multinet used to obtain macro- and meso-zooplankton community structure. Overall, data will allow to characterize the external forcings and abiotic conditions in the Cantabrian Sea, and thus establish the links between abiotic conditions, populations and pelagic and benthopelagic resources

BIOCANT-3_LEG2 Cruise (29SG20130428) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2013, The objective of the DOS MARES project is twofold. First, we aim at understanding the effects of the atmospheric teleconnections between the Cantabrian Sea and the north-western Mediterranean Sea, and their impacts on the deep ecosystem, both pelagic and benthic. Second, we want to know in which way the transfer of the signal from the external forcings towards the deep ecosystem controls the community structure and the population dynamics. Thus, in March 2012 we deployed 6 mooring lines equipped with sediment traps and currentmeters in the Avilés and Gaviera canyons and the slope. In September 2012 the moorings were successfully recovered and redeployed again, and during this cruise DOSMARES BIOCANT3 they have been finally recovered and the 1-year monitoring effort finalised. In addition, CTD profiling has been performed to characterise the biological and physical structure of the water column (including the acquisition of discrete water samples), multicorers have been obtained to characterise the geochemical properties of surface sediments, and a multinet used to obtain macro- and meso-zooplankton community structure. Overall, data will allow to characterize the external forcings and abiotic conditions in the Cantabrian Sea, and thus establish the links between abiotic conditions, populations and pelagic and benthopelagic resources

GALINCLIMARCH-2 Cruise (29SG20120423) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2012, To study the climatic changes that have taken place in the last 50,000 years o o objection of the oceanographic campaign Galinclimarch. The sediments of the Galician Interior Basin realm are capable of recording the peculiar conditions of the last glacial‐interglacial dynamics transition into the current interglacial and their evolution into present day, as they are influenced by the Thermohaline Circulation (THC) and because their proximity to the important continental land‐mass of western Iberia. The knowledge of the rates and magnitudes of change of this system is critical to understand its climate dynamics, processes and feedbacks, and hence its role on a local to sub‐regional scale. The inference of these climatic mechanisms encrypted in the deep‐sea sedimentary record needs to constrain the spatial and temporal scales of the sedimentary processes involved, in particular the identification of source areas, pathways and transport, storage times and hydrodynamic conditions. To adequately assess these encrypted sedimentary archives it is instrumental to identify the sedimentary expression of the main processes and forcements involved and accurately determine the spatial and temporal scales, rates and magnitudes of the processes and feedbacks that generate these records. This proposal aims to carry out a high‐resolution reconstruction of the transport time,provenance, sediment fluxes, wave climate, bottom‐current variability and post‐depositional alteration in a number of surficial samples and cores from the Galician Interior Basin. This project will provide a first insight into the relation between the last North Atlantic climate oscillation and the local regional components including abrupt climate changes (i.e. H events) and local events since the end of the last glacial period from a paleoclimatic proxies perspective. We will use a twofold approach by first constraining the current sedimentary conditions to their associated local wave climate and North Atlantic regional forcements to subsequently infer the paleoenvironmental conditions from the past 30‐50 ky sedimentary record. Firstly, analysing and modelling the present hydraulic conditions from newly acquired and historical wave climate and oceanographic records from the study area will study the current sedimentary conditions and forcements. These data will be linked to the present day sedimentation conditions by direct measurements of present day sedimentation and oceanographic conditions, supported by moored sediment traps, CTD, Doppler records and surficial samples. Epifauna, infauna, microfauna and sediment microestructure will also be studied. Subsequently we will udertake a multidisciplinary study combining high‐resolution geochemical, physical properties, environmental magnetic sediment derived records with high precision U‐series isotopes analyses in a well‐constrained geochronological framework. Further support will be provided by seismic‐acoustic data acquisition. The combination of these sedimentological, micropaleontological, geochemical and geophysical tools will help in better resolving the role of current strength, circulation and sediment provenance changes also considering across vs. along margin transport balances in the sedimentary record of the Galician Internal basin over the last 30‐50 ky

FUGRO-2 Cruise (29SG20130823) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2013, Fugro Black Sea cruise

CARIBENORTE Cruise (29SG20131118) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2013, Geodynamics of the northern Caribbean: Haití-Dominican Republic Sector

SUBVENT-2 Cruise (29SG20140310) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2014, The main scientific objectives of the SUBVENT-2 have been: 1)To survey and study the morphology and geophysical configuration of the mud volcanoes and magmatic volcanoes and identify active cold seeps and hot springs along the continental margins of the Gulf of Cádiz and Canary Islands. 2)To explore, sample and to photography active seabed fluid features. 3)To identify bio-mineralizations (nodules, crusts and chimneys) formed by the action of micro/macro chemosynthetic organisms and mineralization processes. 4) To recognize the role of global change and tectonics in the episodic event of eruption of gas-related mudand enriched-volatile magmatic submarine volcanoes. Technical tasks: The technical tasks carried out during the SUBVENT-2 cruise have been: 1)Multibeam mapping and CHIRP ultra-high resolution profiles on the selected targets. 2) High-resolution seismic profiles with air-gun array and 3-channel streamer. 3)Dives with the ROV LUSO using high-resolution video, methane and CO2 probes, micro-cores, aspiration tubes, rock sampling and niskin bottles. 4)Thermosalinograph (CTD) probes and Niskin bottle rosette sampling. 5) Sampling with 2-5 m gravity core

HOTMIX Cruise (29SG20140427) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2014, This project will study the influence of mixing zones between water masses on the metabolism and biodiversity of microbial communities, and their impact on biogeochemical fluxes, in the deep ocean. The project will be carried out in the Mediterranean Sea as an example of experimental laboratory for its dynamic characteristics, with turnover times an order of magnitude smaller than in the open ocean (11 to 100 years). We will follow the evolution of the Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) from its generation, in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea until its flow to the North Atlantic through the Strait of Gibraltar. During its westward flow the LIW mixes both with surface water of Atlantic origin and deep Mediterranean waters, formed both in the eastern (Adriatic and Aegean Seas) and western (Gulf of Lions) basins. After outflowing through the Gulf of Cadiz, the LIW sinks down and spills over into the eastern Atlantic Ocean, mixing with different Atlantic waters, like the North Atlantic Central Water (NACW), the Subpolar Modal Water (SPMW) and the Labrador Sea Water (LSW). We will reproduce the "in situ" conditions (temperature, pH and hydrostatic pressure) in the deep ocean to study microbial metabolism using advanced methodologies. We will also examine the relationship between diversity, microbial metabolism and the elemental and molecular composition of the available organic matter at these interface regions. Finally, we will compare estimates of metabolic rates with geochemical approaches based on multiparametric analysis of water masses (OMP) and age estimates from transient tracers, helping to resolve the paradox of the imbalance between sources and sinks of carbon in the deep ocean

PLOCAN Cruise (29SG20140601) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2014, The objective of the cruise is to collaborate in the installation and anchoring of a buoy with superficial meteorological and oceanographic instrumentation in the context of the PLOCAN platform (The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands). It also contains a structure in subsurface waters which brings together another series of sensors to measure physical and biochemical parameters in the water column.The deployment of this anchor will allow to measure atmospheric and oceanographic variables in high resolution (every hour) at sea, which will be transmitted in real time via satellite. Regarding the atmosphere and by means of a meteorological station, barometric pressure, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, precipitation and photosynthetically active solar radiation are measured, and oceanographic variables are measured at the sea surface. temperature, conductivity, oxygen, turbidity and chlorophyll. In addition, there are two sensors belonging to the Marine Chemistry group of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) to record the data on surface pH and CO2. With respect to the subsurface structure, pressure, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll and currents are measured in a self-contained manner. These observations can be viewed once the funding is recovered. It is estimated that the funding remains one year maximum