RV METEOR Cruise M57

Abstract

R/V METEOR cruise No. 57 was divided into three different legs. The first leg was carried out on the shelf and continental slope off western South Africa. Legs 2 and 3 concentrated on the adjacent area to the north up to about 22°S (Fig. 1). The working program of the first leg focused on the recovery of sediment core material which is needed for the reconstruction of Late Quaternary climate variabilities. Complemented by geochemical and geophysical investigations, a great number of sediment cores were recovered from the continental slope off South Africa as well as from the mud belt adjacent to the Orange River mouth. During the following leg (M57/2) intensive (bio)geochemical, geophysical, geological, micropaleontological, oceanographical und hydrographical investigations were conducted to register the lateral particle transport, for a detailed description of the benthic carbon cycle, to determine the effect of the anaerobic methane oxidation on the sedimentary composition, to reconstruct variations in the importance of single water masses, and to understand diversity and spatial distribution of microorganisms in the water column and at the sea floor. Interrelations between biogeochemical flux or transfer rates and the physical phenomenon of gas eruptions on the shelf off Namibia were of main interest during the third leg. The cruise was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF).

General Information

Cruise Leg M57/1
20.01. - 08.02.2003
Cape Town (Rep. South Africa) - Walvis Bay (Namibia)

Cruise Leg M57/2
11.02. - 12.03.2003
Walvis Bay (Namibia) - Walvis Bay (Namibia)

Cruise Leg M57/3
15.03. - 13.04.2003
Walvis Bay (Namibia) - Dakar (Senegal)