Expedition with sonar lander

Jan 14, 2021

A mini-ROV developed at MARUM by AG Bachmayer monitors the deployment of the observatory. Photo: MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen; S. Krupinski

A team of scientists led by Dr. Miriam Römer from MARUM and the BGR Hannover is currently underway in the North Sea with the research vessel MARIA S. MERIAN. Their target area are the gas seeps that they have already registered during a 2019 expedition and that will now be studied in more detail. Chief scientist Miriam Römer and her colleagues analyzed that the escaping gas is methane. During the expedition, they investigate how the gas is formed in the subsurface and how much methane is escaping the seafloor. They also measure whether part of the methane is released into the atmosphere, where it can act as a greenhouse gas.

To answer these questions, the seafloor will be surveyed and samples taken. In addition, a specially constructed observatory including a sonar will be deployed on the seafloor monitoring the gas seeps for several days.

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Current position of the MARIA S. MERIAN

Gas seeps on the seafloor in the North Sea. Photo: MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen

The sonar observatory is set down on the seafloor and documents the gas bubble seeps. Photo: MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen; Y. Marcon