GoMex NFix

Ship

R/V Oceanus

Vehicles

Cruise Party

Joseph Montoya: Principal Investigator, Chief Scientist
Georgia Institute of Technology EST Bldg, 311 Ferst Drive Atlanta, GA USA 30332
+1 404 385 0479
montoya@gatech.edu

Departure: TBD on Aug 21, 2010

Arrival: TBD on Sep 16, 2010

Supporting documentation:

Operations Area: Gulf of Mexico

Lat/Lon:

Depth Range: 0 / 3000

Will the vessel be operating within 200 NM of a foreign country? no

Science objectives

This p roject has the following specific goals:

1.            Identify the major diazotroph groups in the Gulf of Mexico and characterize their distribution and activity in different regions and water masses. 

2.            Quantify the impact of advective processes, mesoscale features, and riverine inputs on nutrient limitation and N₂-fixation in the Gulf, and evaluate the controls on N₂-fixation and the degree of spatial and temporal niche differentiation among diazotroph assemblages in different regions affected by these processes.

3.            Use satellite data and physical models to scale up our measurements spatially and to evaluate the regional significance of N₂-fixation in the Gulf of Mexico.  We will also use a coupled physical/biological model to explore variability in the physical forcings and the potentia l impact of likely land use and climate change scenarios in altering nutrient dynamics and N₂-fixation in the Gulf of Mexico.

This cruise will provide critical field data for goals 1 and 2, as well as ground-truthing for the modeling effort of goal 3.

Science Activities

CTD casts, mocness tows, meter net tows, surface pumping for collecting large volumes of water, deck incubations.

Pre-cruise planning meeting: Teleconference

Stations:

Funding Agency: NSF #OCE-0928495

- added NSF #OCE-0928495 on May 4, 2010 3:02 PM by
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R/V Oceanus

Shipboard Equipment

Deionized Water System
Fume Hood
ADCP 150 kHz
ADCP 75 kHz
Science Underway Seawater System

CTD/Water Sampling

911+ Rosette 24-position, 10-liter bottle Rosette with dual T/C sensors
Biospherical underwater PAR (1000m depth limit) with reference Surface PAR
SBE43 oxygen sensor
Wet Labs C*Star transmissometer (660nm wavelength)
Wet Labs ECO-AFL fluorometer

Critical CTD Sensors: 

CTD-Related Equipment

Lowered Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (LADCP)

Hydrographic Analysis Equipment

Oxygen Sample Bottles (available in 150 ml sizes)
Salinometer
Salt Bottles (2 cases of 125 ml provided)

MET Sensors

Air temperature
Wind speed and direction

Sample Storage

Chest Freezer (Household type) 0°F
Freezer -70°C 3.2 cu. ft. ea.
Refrigerator 8.6 cu. ft.

Navigation

Will you be using Long Base Line (LBL) navigation? no

Will you be using Doppler/GPS navigation? no

Winches

CTD Winch with .322" Electro-mechanical wire
Hydro Winch with .25" hydro wire

Standard Oceanographic Cables

	Instrument(s)	Instrument Weight(s)	Maximum Depth
Conducting Hydro:	mocness	null	1000 m
Hydro:	meter nets	100 lb (incl wt.)	250 m wire out

Slip ring required? no	Number of conductors:
Non-standard wire required? no	Type:
Traction winch required? no	Describe:

Other Science Vans:

Specialized Deck Equipment

Mooring Deployment/Recovery Equipment Required: no	Type:
Cruise Specific Science Winch Required: no	Type:
Nets Required: yes	Type: mocness, meter nets

Over the Side Equipment

Will you be bringing any equipment (winches, blocks, etc.) that lowers instruments over the side? no

Special Requirements

Elecrical Power: no	Identify:
Equipment Handling: no	Identify:
Inter/intraship Communications: yes	Identify: we'll need to coordinate operations with the Cape Hatteras
Science Stowage: no	Identify:
Water: no	Identify:

Additional Cruise Items/Activities

Explosive Devices: no Portable Air Compressors: no Flammable Gases: yes

Small Boat Operations: no SCUBA Diving Operations: no

Hazardous Material

Will hazardous material be utilized? no

Radioactive Material

Radioiosotopes: no

Additional Information

Is night time work anticipated on this cruise? yes

Specialized tech support (Seabeam, coring, other): 

Other required equipment and special needs: 
Date Submitted: May 7, 2010 11:06 AM