As
part of the Bering Strait project funded by
NSF-AON (Arctic Observing Network), in July
2023 a team of US scientists undertook a ~11
day cruise in the Bering Strait and southern
Chukchi Sea region on the US vessel Norseman
II, operated by Support Vessels of Alaska,
Inc..
The primary goals/activities of the expedition
were:
- 1) recovery of 3 moorings carrying physical
and biogeochemical oceanographic
instrumentation (Woodgate & Peralta
Ferriz, NSF-AON funding) and whale acoustic
instrumentation (Stafford, separate funding).
These moorings were deployed in the Bering
Strait region in 2022 from the Norseman II.
- 2) deployment of 3 moorings in the Bering
Strait region, carrying physical and
biogeochemical oceanographic instrumentation
(Woodgate & Peralta Ferriz, NSF-AON
funding) and whale acoustic instrumentation
(Stafford, separate funding).
- 3) search, using a portable Norbit multibeam
system, for a mooring that was unable to be
found last year.
- 4) a set of CTD sections studying water
properties in the region, with some sampling
for nutrients and salinities (Woodgate &
Peralta-Ferriz),
- 5) collection of trace metal/nutrient water
samples using a pumped system at selected CTD
casts (Jensen).
- 6) collection of accompanying ship's
underway data, viz. surface water temperature
and salinity, ADCP velocity data and
meteorological data (Woodgate &
Peralta-Ferriz),
- 7) deployment of a glider (PIs: Statsecwich
et al.),
- 8) taking of opportunistic and exploratory
samples for microplastic studies (Orellana),
and - 9) opportunistic sampling of unexpected
features of the region (this year, strange
white debris in the water).
The cruise loaded and offloaded gear and
people in Nome, Alaska.
Key Statistics:
- 3 moorings recovered,
- 3 moorings deployed,
- 78 CTD casts on 4 CTD lines, with 194
nutrient samples and 6 salinity samples
- trace metal/nutrient water samples taken on
30 stations
For full details, and preliminary results,
see:
|
BERING STRAIT 2023 CRUISE MAPS:
Ship-track, blue. Mooring sites, black. CTD
stations, red. Water samples color code as per key.
Green arrows show direction of travel. Depth
contours every 10m from IBCAO (International
Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean [Jakobsson et
al., 2000] |
