Recovery of observatories and water column survey offshore Svalbard aboard R/V Helmer Hanssen
Chief Scientist: Bénédicte Ferré
Introduction
The cruise occurred from May 1st to May 9th 2016 and was part of the Centre of Excellence for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate (CAGE) at UiT – The Arctic of Norway.
The main goal of the cruise was to recover two observatories that were deployed on June 30th and July 2nd 2015 during CAGE 15-3 (chief scientist Anna Silyakova). The sites were selected according to pictures taken during CAGE 15-2 cruise (chief scientist Giuliana Panieri) illustrating bacterial mats on the sea floor. The exact locations were decided just prior to deployment according to flare locations.
The present cruise also aimed at investigating an area of extensive flares western Svalbard, particularly the shallow shelf and shelf edge. The addressed scientific topics include quantification of methane concentration in the water column, dissolved inorganic carbon, pH, microbial activity and identification, nutrients, DMSP, CDOM and current amplitude and direction.