BUSCADOR RECOLECTA

PASTA Cruise (29GD20021024) carried out on the Research Vessel García del Cid in 2002, One of the priority objectives of the campaign is to anchor instruments to measure the transport of sediment in energy conditions, the dates of the start of the campaign have to coincide with the time when river discharges and storms begin to occur in the Adriatic. This study covers the mouth of the Po River up to the promontory of Gargano (more than 200 miles from the coast), along which several oceanographic instruments will be anchored next to protective buoys and sediment coorers will be obtained in the prodelta of the Po river and in front of the most important Apennine rivers.Probes, thermosalynograph, Doppler, meteorological station, Boxcorrer, mini-CTD with particle chamber, an x-ray apparatus for radiography of sediments, current meters, temperature sesores, oceanographic tripods and protection buoys will be used

ABIDES-1 Cruise (29GD20170205) carried out on the Research Vessel García del Cid in 2017, To study the transport processes from the submarine canyon flanks of the Catalan margin to deeper areas caused by the bottom trawling activities and evaluate the impact on the sedimentary substrate.To address several of the specific objectives proposed in this project objectives it will be necessary to carry out three separate oceanographic campaigns six months each other to record time series of oceanographic parameters through the anchorage of several anchors equipped with current meters, turbidimeters and sediment traps located inside submarine canyons . In the first of these campaigns, we will proceed to anchoring the anchors, in the second to the maintenance and in the third to the final recovery of the instruments, to cover an annual cycle of record the sediment transport processes and identify the contribution of the resuspension by trawling to sedimentary flows . In each one of these campaigns will be transects of CTD stations to study the seasonal variability of hydrography and formation of nephelloid layers in the column of water and surface sediment cores will be obtained . Sampling will be done both in open slope environments and in the interior of canyons submarines. The oceanographic vessel chosen for these three campaigns is the B / O García del Cid, which has the right characteristics to carry out the tasks planned and the crew is experienced with anchoring maneuvers and recovery of oceanographic anchors

ABIDES-ROV Cruise (29SG20170905) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2017, The ABIDES (Assessment of Bottom-trawling Impacts in DEep-sea Sediments) project focuses on the study of contemporary sedimentary processes associated to the impact of bottom trawling activities on the deep seafloor. The disturbance of deep-sea environments caused by this fishing practice is considered to be notably higher than all other anthropogenic pressures combined, given its intensity, recurrence and wide geographical distribution. Although the impacts of trawling on coastal and shelf environments have been investigated in the past from the sedimentary point of view, up to date, very few studies have addressed the role of this fishing practice on slope environments, where background energy levels controlling natural sedimentary processes are generally low and where the associated benthic ecosystems are less resilient and more vulnerable. Therefore, the main goal of the ABIDES project is to improve our knowledge of the contemporary sediment erosion, transport and accumulation processes driven by this anthropogenic activity, with the aim to assess the magnitude of the associated impacts in continental slope environments and to provide support for mitigation efforts towards the development of sustainable fisheries. During the ABIDES-ROV cruise we have conducted a morphological and seabed habitat characterization of the continental slope regions that have (and have not) been intensively trawled during decades, both at small- and large-scale with the aim to evaluate the “seafloor integrity”. The main study area has been the NW Mediterranean continental margin, where a bottom trawling fishery has been operating for decades and a good knowledge of the current bottom-trawling footprint exists. ROV footage has been used to determine the small-scale morphological changes and the impact caused by trawling gear on the seafloor habitats through direct visual observations; and detailed multibeam bathymetric mapping will be used to identify large-scale morphological changes caused by persistent trawling activities over major fishing grounds of the study area

ABRIC-1 Cruise (29SG20200214) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2020, Assessment of Bottom-trawling Resuspension Impacts in deep benthic Communities (ABRIC). The objective of the cruise is the integrated study of the benthic communities presents in various areas of the Blanes canyon and the impact of trawling on these communities

CASCADES-1 Cruise (29GD20081017) carried out on the Research Vessel García del Cid in 2008, Interaction between submarine cascades and deep ecosystems. CASCADES main objective is to study the processes of particle transport associated with the descent, in the form of underwater cascading , of dense waters formed in coastal environments, and at the same time, to evaluate in an interdisciplinary way the effects implications of this oceanographic phenomenon in ecosystems and deep living resources. To achieve this objective, it is necessary to record time series of oceanographic parameters in winter conditions (time when the underwater cascading) through the use of anchored instruments. This fact entails the need to request a minimum of two oceanographic campaigns (one to install the anchoring and another for its recovery). During the first days of the CASCADES 1 campaign operations will be carried out related to the anchoring of instruments to ensure the registration of parameters oceanographic,three hydrographic transects will be carried out a CTD probe following a direction parallel to the orientation of the canyon, on the flank north, on the axis and on the south flank, and two perpendicular to the canyon. The stations will be separated one nautical mile from each other to characterize the structure in detail hydrographic and nephelide in the head of the submarine canyon and in the continental slope adjacent.also sediment samples will be collected

CASCADES-2 Cruise (29GD20090313) carried out on the Research Vessel García del Cid in 2009, To study the Interaction between the submarine cascades and deep ecosystems.CASCADES main objective is to study the processes of particle transport associated with the descent, in the form of underwater cascading , of dense waters formed in coastal environments, and at the same time, to evaluate in an interdisciplinary way the effects implications of this oceanographic phenomenon in ecosystems and deep living resources. To achieve this objective, it is necessary to record time series of oceanographic parameters in winter conditions (time when the underwater cascading) through the use of anchored instruments. This fact entails the need to request a minimum of two oceanographic campaigns (one to install the anchoring and another for its recovery).During the campaign CASCADES 2 the anchors of the first campaign will be recovered and three hydrographic transects will be carried out a CTD probe following a direction parallel to the orientation of the canyon, on the flank north, on the axis and on the south flank, and two perpendicular to the canyon. The stations will be separated one nautical mile from each other to characterize the structure in detail hydrographic and nephelide in the head of the submarine canyon and in the continental slope adjacent.also sediment samples will be collected

COSTEM-1 Cruise (29GD20100520) carried out on the Research Vessel García del Cid in 2010, The COSTEM project studies the current processes that control the sedimentary dynamics on the external platform, the headwaters of submarine canyons and the upper slope of the continental margin of the Ebro and the Gulf of Valencia. The main objective of the study is to expand the knowledge of the current mechanisms of sediment transport from the platform to the slope, and determine the role played by this system in energy episodes such as heavy storms or the presence of internal waves

COSTEM-2 Cruise (29GD20100917) carried out on the Research Vessel García del Cid in 2010, The COSTEM project studies the current processes that control the sedimentary dynamics on the external platform, the headwaters of submarine canyons and the upper slope of the continental margin of the Ebro and the Gulf of Valencia. The main objective of the study is to expand the knowledge of the current mechanisms of sediment transport from the platform to the slope, and determine the role played by this system in energy episodes such as heavy storms or the presence of internal waves

COSTEM-3 Cruise (29GD20110209) carried out on the Research Vessel García del Cid in 2011, The COSTEM project studies the current processes that control the sedimentary dynamics on the external platform, the headwaters of submarine canyons and the upper slope of the continental margin of the Ebro and the Gulf of Valencia. The main objective of the study is to expand the knowledge of the current mechanisms of sediment transport from the platform to the slope, and determine the role played by this system in energy episodes such as heavy storms or the presence of internal waves

HERMIONE-I Cruise (29GD20110510) carried out on the Research Vessel García del Cid in 2011, Hotspot Ecosystem Research and Man's Impact on European seas. Contemporary sediment transport processes were measured by an instrumented mooring line equipped with a downward-looking 300 kHz acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) from Teledyne RDI and three turbidimeters (AQUA logger 520 from the Aquatec Group) deployed from 10 May to 22 September 2011 on the northern flank of La Fonera Canyon, at 980 m depth within the Montgrí tributary valley axis. Seafloor sediment samples from the canyon flanks were collected using a six-tube multicorer from KC-Denmark during the HERMIONE-1 cruise onboard the RV García del Cid