RV SONNE Fahrtbericht/Cruise Report SO225, Manihiki II Leg 2, The Manihiki Plateau - Origin, structure and effects of oceanic plateaus and Pleistocene dynamic of the West Pacific warm water pool

• Other Authors: Werner, Reinhard, Nürnberg, Dirk, Hauff, Folkmar
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung 2013
• Subjects: New Zealand; Pacific; Southern Ocean; Alfred Wegener Institute
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/21284/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/21284/1/geomar_rep6.pdf; https://doi.org/10.3289/GEOMAR_REP_NS_6_2013

R/V SONNE cruises SO-224 and SO-225 are part of the cooperative project MANIHIKI II between GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). This multidisciplinary project continues previous research at the Manihiki Plateau conducted since 2007 (SO-193) on morphological, volcanological, geochemical, and geochronological studies and is now broadened by geophysical and paleoceanographic research foci. SO-225 focused on stratigraphically controlled sampling of the igneous successions of the Manihiki Plateau. This has been accomplished by using the remotely operated vehicle ROV Kiel 6000 and chain bag dredges. Coring of deep sea sediments and sampling of the overlying water column has been added to the program. SO-225 and subsequent shore-based research in the home institutes mainly address (1) the temporal, spatial, and compositional evolution of the igneous basement of Manihiki Plateau, (2) the environmental impact of the large volcanic eruptions, which formed the Manihiki Plateau, (3) the Plio-Pleistocene dynamics and evolution of the West Pacific Warm Pool during the last ~3 million years, and (4) the potential oceanographic interaction between the equatorial Pacific and the Southern Ocean (“ocean tunnel hypothesis”) and its climatic responses. The integration of scientific results from SO-224 and SO-225 with existing data from the West Pacific large igneous provinces Manihiki, Hikurangi, and Ontong Java will contribute towards a better understanding of the origin and effects of volcanic mega events, the formation of large igneous provinces, and the paleoceanography and paleoclimate of the equatorial West Pacific. R/V SONNE cruise SO-225 started in Suva/Fiji on November 21st, 2012, and ended in Auckland/New Zealand on Januar 5th, 2013. Complementing 2,940 nm multi-beam mapping and 2,250 nm sediment echo-sounding, a total of 62 deployments of various devices have ...