As
part of the Bering Strait project funded by
NSF-AON (Arctic Observing Network), in
September 2024 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) and whale acoustic instrumentation
(Stafford). These moorings were deployed in
the Bering Strait region in 2023 from the
Norseman II.
2) deployment of 3 moorings in the Bering
Strait region, carrying physical and
biogeochemical oceanographic instrumentation
(Woodgate & Peralta Ferriz) and whale
acoustic instrumentation (Stafford).
3) a set of CTD sections studying water
properties in the region, with some sampling
for nutrients and salinities (Woodgate &
Peralta-Ferriz),
4) collection of trace metal/nutrient water
samples using a pumped system at selected CTD
casts (Jensen)
5) collection of accompanying ship's underway
data, viz. surface water temperature and
salinity, ADCP velocity data and
meteorological data (Woodgate &
Peralta-Ferriz),
6) taking of water samples to characterize
Hafnium, Neodymium, Iodine-129 and Uranium-236
isotopes (Payne and Casacuberta),
7) taking of opportunistic samples for
delta-O18, to characterize freshwater sources
(Jensen, Woodgate & Peralta-Ferriz); and
8) taking of opportunistic and exploratory
samples for phytoplankton studies (Orellana).
The cruise loaded and offloaded gear and
people in Nome, Alaska.
Key Statistics:
3 moorings recovered,
3 moorings deployed,
153 CTD casts on 7 CTD lines, with 195
nutrient samples, 6 salinity samples and 9
delta-O18 samples trace metal/nutrient water
samples taken on 42 stations, with a further
18 delta-O18 samples 15 samples for Iodine-129
and Uranium-236;
5 samples for hafnium and neodymium
10 samples for phytoplankton identification
and 45 samples for phytoplankton
quantification
For full details, and preliminary results,
see:
|
BERING STRAIT 2024 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] |
