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RRS Discovery Cruise 248, 07 Jul-10 Aug 2000. A multidisciplinary study of the environment and ecology of deep-water coral ecosystems and associated seabed facies and features (The Darwin Mounds, Porcupine Bank and Porcupine Seabight)

RRS Discovery Cruise 248, 07 Jul-10 Aug 2000. A multidisciplinary study of the environment and ecology of deep-water coral ecosystems and associated seabed facies and features (The Darwin Mounds, Porcupine Bank and Porcupine Seabight)
RRS Discovery Cruise 248, 07 Jul-10 Aug 2000. A multidisciplinary study of the environment and ecology of deep-water coral ecosystems and associated seabed facies and features (The Darwin Mounds, Porcupine Bank and Porcupine Seabight)
RRS Discovery Cruise 248 aimed to carry out a multidisciplinary study of the environment and ecology of deep-water coral ecosystems and associated seabed features in the northeast Atlantic. The study was primarily focused on the Darwin Mounds area, northern Rockall Trough (59° 49’N, 07° 22’W), but also examined a number of sites in the Porcupine Seabight area. The cruise was divided into two legs (Govan-Stornoway, 8 Jul-21 Jul 2000; Stornoway-Southampton, 22 Jul-10 Aug 2000). Leg 1 focused on the ecology of the Darwin Mounds area, with seabed photographic surveys (SOC SHRIMP system), coring (Box and Multiple cores) and trawling (Agassiz) forming the main activities. Leg 2 began with detailed geological investigations of the Darwin Mounds area, concentrating on piston coring and sidescan sonar surveys. Leg 2 concluded with combined ecological and geological studies of carbonate mound sites on the Porcupine Bank and in the Porcupine Seabight.
Observations in the Darwin Mounds area confirmed the common occurrence of deep-water corals on these Mounds. The mounds themselves do not appear to be carbonate formations but may be better characterised as sand volcanoes. Numerous xenophyophores were observed in association with the mounds; however, no live specimens were recovered in any of the samples collected. Sidescan sonar images and seabed photography both suggested that the Darwin Mounds area had been subject to considerable commercial trawling with resultant apparent damage to the deep-water coral ecosystems.
The various operations undertaken in the Porcupine Seabight area were also successful in imaging giant carbonate mounds and their associated coral communities with both sidescan sonar and seabed photography, and in recovering biological sample material from these areas. In common with the Darwin Mounds area, the observations made suggested that deep-water fishing impacts on coral ecosystems were also evident in this region.
ACES, Agassiz trawl, ATLNE, bottom photography, box corer, BATHYSNAP, bathyal, bathysiphon, benthic communities, carbonate mounds, cruise 248 2000, CTD observations, current meters, Darwin Mounds, deep-water corals, Discovery, dredge, ECOMOUND, fishing effects, foraminifera, gravity corer, In Situ Optical Recorder, Lophelia, macrobenthos, meiobenthos, megabenthos, mud volcanoes, multiple corer, Mini Profiler Vehicle, Northeast Atlantic, organic chemistry, piston corer, pockmarks, Porcupine Bank, Porcupine Seabight, Rockall Trough, sediments, SHRIMP, sidescan sonar, Stand Alone Pumping System, Syringammina, xenophyophores
36
Southampton Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton
Bett, B.J.
61342990-13be-45ae-9f5c-9540114335d9
Billett, D.S.M.
aab439e2-c839-4cd2-815c-3d401e0468db
Masson, D.G.
edd44c8b-38ca-45fb-8d0d-ac8365748a45
Tyler, P.A.
d1965388-38cc-4c1d-9217-d59dba4dd7f8
Bett, B.J.
61342990-13be-45ae-9f5c-9540114335d9
Billett, D.S.M.
aab439e2-c839-4cd2-815c-3d401e0468db
Masson, D.G.
edd44c8b-38ca-45fb-8d0d-ac8365748a45
Tyler, P.A.
d1965388-38cc-4c1d-9217-d59dba4dd7f8

Bett, B.J., Billett, D.S.M., Masson, D.G. and Tyler, P.A. (2001) RRS Discovery Cruise 248, 07 Jul-10 Aug 2000. A multidisciplinary study of the environment and ecology of deep-water coral ecosystems and associated seabed facies and features (The Darwin Mounds, Porcupine Bank and Porcupine Seabight) (Southampton Oceanography Centre Cruise Report, 36) Southampton, UK. Southampton Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton 108pp.

Record type: Monograph (Project Report)

Abstract

RRS Discovery Cruise 248 aimed to carry out a multidisciplinary study of the environment and ecology of deep-water coral ecosystems and associated seabed features in the northeast Atlantic. The study was primarily focused on the Darwin Mounds area, northern Rockall Trough (59° 49’N, 07° 22’W), but also examined a number of sites in the Porcupine Seabight area. The cruise was divided into two legs (Govan-Stornoway, 8 Jul-21 Jul 2000; Stornoway-Southampton, 22 Jul-10 Aug 2000). Leg 1 focused on the ecology of the Darwin Mounds area, with seabed photographic surveys (SOC SHRIMP system), coring (Box and Multiple cores) and trawling (Agassiz) forming the main activities. Leg 2 began with detailed geological investigations of the Darwin Mounds area, concentrating on piston coring and sidescan sonar surveys. Leg 2 concluded with combined ecological and geological studies of carbonate mound sites on the Porcupine Bank and in the Porcupine Seabight.
Observations in the Darwin Mounds area confirmed the common occurrence of deep-water corals on these Mounds. The mounds themselves do not appear to be carbonate formations but may be better characterised as sand volcanoes. Numerous xenophyophores were observed in association with the mounds; however, no live specimens were recovered in any of the samples collected. Sidescan sonar images and seabed photography both suggested that the Darwin Mounds area had been subject to considerable commercial trawling with resultant apparent damage to the deep-water coral ecosystems.
The various operations undertaken in the Porcupine Seabight area were also successful in imaging giant carbonate mounds and their associated coral communities with both sidescan sonar and seabed photography, and in recovering biological sample material from these areas. In common with the Darwin Mounds area, the observations made suggested that deep-water fishing impacts on coral ecosystems were also evident in this region.

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More information

Published date: 2001
Keywords: ACES, Agassiz trawl, ATLNE, bottom photography, box corer, BATHYSNAP, bathyal, bathysiphon, benthic communities, carbonate mounds, cruise 248 2000, CTD observations, current meters, Darwin Mounds, deep-water corals, Discovery, dredge, ECOMOUND, fishing effects, foraminifera, gravity corer, In Situ Optical Recorder, Lophelia, macrobenthos, meiobenthos, megabenthos, mud volcanoes, multiple corer, Mini Profiler Vehicle, Northeast Atlantic, organic chemistry, piston corer, pockmarks, Porcupine Bank, Porcupine Seabight, Rockall Trough, sediments, SHRIMP, sidescan sonar, Stand Alone Pumping System, Syringammina, xenophyophores
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Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 247
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/247
PURE UUID: 64accb50-c975-45c9-b413-3da912bf3982

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 25 Nov 2003
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 04:38

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Contributors

Author: B.J. Bett
Author: D.S.M. Billett
Author: D.G. Masson
Author: P.A. Tyler

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