Abstract:

The main goals of this cruise were as follows: (1) Recover six moorings, including one sound source, and three trawl resistant bottom mounts concentrated in the upper De Soto Canyon. Instruments recovered have collected a years worth of: temperature, conductivity, pressure and current data. (2) Occupy CTD stations at the mooring locations and along the western edge of De Soto Canyon, collecting measurements of: temperature, conductivity, pressure, dissolved oxygen, turbidity (amount of suspended particles in the water), optical properties of water (transmittance or attenuation of incident radiation), and chlorophyll -A. (3) Sample water from the western edge of De Soto Canyon, up to and including mooring M6, in order to better understand the cholorophyll max. Collected samples will be analyzed for methane concentration, oxygen concentration, nutrients, cell microscopy, microbes (for DNA/RNA work) and particulate organic carbon (for carbon isotope work). (4) Acquire shipboard ADCP data (75kHz, 150kHz, and 300 kHz), from surface to bottom, for the duration of the cruise. This dataset contains CTD data from this cruise.

Suggested Citation:

Speer, Kevin. 2014. PE13 27 CTD, N. Shelf and DeSoto Canyon, May 16-18, 2013. Distributed by: Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC), Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N7K0726V

Purpose:

To determine the effect of seasonal currents, topography, and episodic oceanographic or atmospheric drivers on the transport of oil, hydrocarbon gases, sediments, and organisms from a source to sea floor and pelagic environments in the Gulf of Mexico.

Data Parameters and Units:

Pressure Digiquartz dB PrDM, Salinity Practical PSU Sal00, Temperature deg C T090C, Time Elapsed seconds TimeS, Beam Attenuation 1/m Bat, beam transmission % Xmiss, Oxygen Saturations Weiss ml/l OxsatML/L, buoyancy frequency N^2, buoyancy frequency cycles/h N

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