ALBERT

Description: A slim python library to link maps and sampling data with prediction methods. PyQuickMaps can do interpolation (with scipy.interpolate.griddata), kriging (with pykrige) and random forest regression (with sklearn.ensemble.RandomForestRegressor). It also features plotting nice geographical maps with matplotlib and storing those to geotiff with rasterio. Coordinate transforms are managed internally with osgeo/gdal.

Description: The AL561 cruise was conducted in the framework of the project APOC (“Anthropogenic impacts on Particulate Organic Carbon cycling in the North Sea”). This collaborative project between GEOMAR, AWI, HEREON, UHH, and BUND is to understand how particulate organic carbon (POC) cycling contributes to carbon sequestration in the North Sea and how this ecosystem service is compromised and interlinked with global change and a range of human pressures include fisheries (pelagic fisheries, bottom trawling), resource extraction (sand mining), sediment management (dredging and disposal of dredged sediments) and eutrophication. The main aim of the sampling activity during AL561 cruise was to recover undisturbed sediment from high accumulation sites in the Skagerrak/Kattegat and to subsample sediment/porewater at high resolution in order to investigate sedimentation transport processes, origin of sediment/POC and mineralization processes over the last 100- 200 years. Moreover, the actual processes of sedimentation and POC degradation in the water column and benthic layer will be addressed by sampling with CTD and Lander devices. In total 9 hydroacoustic surveys (59 profiles), 4 Gravity Corer, 7 Multicorer, 3 Lander and 4 CTD stations were successfully conducted during the AL561 cruise.

Description: Post-processing of sonar data is a common task in ocean science. This includes the creation of bathymetric maps, the use of seafloor backscatter information to determine sediment types as well as the analysis of water column data, e.g. for the assessment of fish populations or the quantification of gas releases from the seafloor at methane seeps. Many commercial and free post processing tools for these tasks exist, but since there is a wide range of sonar manufactures with individual data formats not every format is supported by these applications. The DSM Sonar Software is a collection of software libraries and applications to facilitate access to sonar data of various formats and convert between different formats. The conversion of an unsupported format into a commonly supported one makes it possible to process sonar data with existing post processing tools. The target users for our converters are scientists and hydrographers. The different data format descriptions and sonar tool libraries are valuable for software developers in the field of automated sonar data analysis. The modular approach and structure of the DSM Sonar Software enables that developers pick only necessary components to include them in their own software project.

Description: A Pyhton-based toolbox to remap daily runoff fields of the JRA55-do reanalysis (Tsujino et al., 2018, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2018.07.002) onto any ocean model grid. Runoff from the original global JRA grid is collected and redistributed to a given model coastline. A particular feature is the optional treatment of river mouths: runoff from grid nodes, which is of exceptionally large magnitude after the basic remapping, can be radially spread to ocean nodes farther offshore. The scripts were tested successfully for NEMO ocean model configurations of various resolution (global grids ORCA025 and ORC05 as well as regional nests VIKING10, ORION10, VIKING20X and INALT20X) at GEOMAR, Kiel (see Biastoch et al., 2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-2021-37 for an application). General instructions are provided for how to process the original JRA runoff files and also for the optional river mouth treatment. The technique is illustrated by examples of the fragmented coast of Greenland and the Amazon river mouth. While the code is versatile, examples are given for an application with the NEMO ocean model.

Description: Cruise AL534/2 is part of a multi-disciplinary research initiative as part of the JPI Oceans project HOTMIC and sought to investigate the origin, transport and fate of plastic debris from estuaries to the oceanic garbage patches. The main focus of the cruise was on the horizontal transfer of plastic debris from major European rivers into shelf regions and on the processes that mediate this transport. Stations were originally chosen to target the outflows of major European rivers along the western Europe coast between Malaga (Spain) and Kiel (Germany), although some modifications were made in response to inclement weather. In total, 16 stations were sampled along the cruise track. The sampling scheme was similar for most stations, and included: 1) a CTD cast to collect water column salinity and temperature profiles, and discrete samples between surface and seafloor, 2) sediment sampling with Van Veen grab and mini-multi corer (mini-MUC), 3) suspended particle and plankton sampling using a towed Bongo net and vertical WP3 net, and 4) surface neusten sampling using a catamaran trawl. At a subset of stations with deep water, suspended particles were collected using in situ pumps deployed on a cable. During transit between stations, surface water samples were collected from the ship’s underway seawater supply, and during calm weather, floating litter was counted by visual survey teams. The samples and data collected on cruise AL534/2 will be used to determine the: (1) abundance of plastic debris in surface waters, as well as the composition of polymer types, originating in major European estuaries and transported through coastal waters, (2) abundance and composition of microplastics (MP) in the water column at different depths from the sea surface to the seafloor including the sediment, (3) abundance and composition of plastic debris in pelagic and benthic organisms (invertebrates), (4) abundance and identity of biofoulers (bacteria, protozoans and metazoans) on the surface of plastic debris from different water depths, (5) identification of chemical compounds (“additives”) in the plastic debris and in water samples.

Description: R/V Alkor Cruise AL543 was planned as a six-day cruise with a program of water column and sediment sampling in Kiel Bight and the western Baltic Sea. Due to restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the original plan had to be changed and the cruise was realized as six oneday cruises with sampling in Kiel Bight exclusively. The first day was dedicated to water column and sediment sampling for radionuclide analyses at Boknis Eck and Mittelgrund in Eckernförde Bay. On the remaining five days, water column, bottom water, sediment and pore water samples were collected at eleven stations covering different types of seafloor environment (grain size, redox conditions) in western Kiel Bight. The data and samples obtained on cruise AL543 will be used to investigate (i) the sedimentary cycling of bio-essential metals (e.g., nickel, zinc, and their isotopes) as a function of variable redox conditions, (ii) the impact of submarine groundwater discharge and diffusive benthic fluxes on the distribution of radium and radon as well as greenhouse gases (methane and nitrous oxide) in the water column, and (iii) to characterize and quantify the impact of coastal erosion on sedimentary iron, phosphorus and rare earth element cycling in Kiel Bight.

Description: All the metallic raw materials currently in demand by mankind are extracted on land and are thus only found below a third of the earth’s surface. The oceans, which at 71 percent make up the largest part of the earth‘s surface, have hardly been used so far. But the persistently high demand and the resulting sharp rise of raw material prices are now pushing deep-sea mining into the realm of profitability. The seabed is already an important source of raw materials for mankind. Sand and gravel as well as oil and gas have been extracted from the sea for many years. In addition, diamonds have long been mined off the coasts of South Africa and Namibia as well as deposits of tin, titanium, and gold along the coasts of Africa, Asia and Australia. The extraction of raw ma-terials from the sea is therefore not new. In the near future, however, a number of mineral resources that are to be extracted from the deep sea could gain economic importance. These include massive sulphides, which form in areas of volcanic activity at the plate boundaries in the oceans, manganese nodules on the sediment-covered deep-sea plains and cobalt-rich manganese crusts on the flanks of old submarine mountain ranges. In addition to economic aspects, the protection of the marine environment also plays an important role. Marine science is research for the future: For many years, GEOMAR has been investigating marine raw material deposits. With an interdisciplinary research approach and in close coop-eration with scientists worldwide, the various aspects relevant to the use of marine mineral resources are comprehensively examined. With this brochure, we intend to give you a closer look at the origin, economic potential and ecological risks of a possible exploitation of these deep-sea resources.

Description: 14.8.-17.8.2020

Description: 05.07.-12.07.2020