Cruise plan
The 2014 CGB Research cruise will take place in two legs, each with different equipment on board.
Leg 1: Exploration, mapping and dredging
Departure: Bergen, 16.07.2014
Arrival: Tromsø, 01.08.2014
1: Jan Mayen vent fields, 2: Kolbeinsey ridge vent field, 3: Mohns ridge
During the first leg, the AUV (automated underwater vehicle) Hugin and ROV (remotely operated vehicle) Aglantha will be on board to explore the vent fields around the island of Jan Mayen. Aims of this leg include:
- Deployment of a bottom lander that will measure the bubble flux and ocean currents from the newly discovered hydrothermal vent field near Jan Mayen island.
- Mapping, filming and water sampling of the new vent field discovered in the Summer of 2013 near the Jan Mayen vent fields.
- Mapping of the submarine volcano and vent field discovered last summer west of Jan Mayen at the Kolbeinsey ridge vent field.
- Collect rock samples from the volcanic seafloor using a dredge.
- Sample sediments from basins close to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge using the gravity corer.
- Measuring concentrations of dissolved gasses in seawater using CTDs along the Mohns ridge.
Leg 2: ROV sampling
Departure: Tromsø, 02.08.2014
Arrival: Tromsø, 14.08.2014
1: Jan Mayen vent fields, 2: Kolbeinsey ridge vent field, 3: Mohns ridge, 4: Loki’s Castle vent field, 5: Schulz massif
During the second leg, the deep-sea ROV Bathysaurus will be on board that enables sampling of rocks, fluids, sediments and biological material from the seafloor at Jan Mayen and the Loki’s Castle hydrothermal vent field. Aims of this leg include:
- Recovery of the lander deployed during leg 1.
- Collecting rock, sediment and fluid samples from the Jan Mayen, Kolbeinsey and Loki’s Castle vent fields using the robot arm of the ROV with various equipment attached, such as a push corer, chainsaw and fluid sampler.
- Sampling of biological material from the active chimneys and sediments of the Jan Mayen and Loki’s Castle vent fields using a large syringe attached to the ROV.
- Deployment of microbial incubators at the Jan Mayen vent field and geochemial incubators at the Loki’s Castle hydrothermal vent field.
- Measuring concentrations of dissolved gasses in seawater using CTDs along the Mohns ridge.