Current Survey Details
Celtic Explorer
Survey Name: Sediment Plume Sampling, Bedrock Drilling & Coral Surveying (SPeeD) (27/07/2022 to 13/08/2022)
Chief Scientist: Professor Andrew Wheeler (University College Cork)
Survey Details: Several objectives will be met in different study area:
Objective 1: to map and sample particulate plumes from shelf-edge benthic trawling to quantify the across-shelf impact of trawling, carbon remobilisation and impact on food supply to sessile filter feeders
Objective 2: to study and monitor the trawling seismo-acoustic signature for joint interpretation of plumes and trawling events
Objective 3: to identify and sample rock types outcropping on the Irish continental margin towards the development of a geological map and stratigraphic model for Ireland’s deep-water territories
Objective 4: to map in high resolution an area of cold-water coral (CWC) ridge-reefs to better understand CWC reef development models and biogeoenvironmental interactions
Objective 5: to collect cold-water coral samples for the study of coral pollutant absorption and microplastic accumulation
Objective 6: to recover long-term deployments of Little MonSta lander platforms from the Moira Mounds (Porcupine Seabight) characterising environmental controls on cold-water coral reefs
Objective 7: to explore how steep bathymetry influences the propagation of ocean seismo-acoustic noise coupled to the water column and the solid Earth
Tom Crean
Activity Name: Crew Trainiing
Activity Date(s): 09/08/2022 to 13/08/2022