Seasonal cruise Q4 2019 : Cruise Report

• Published in: The Nansen Legacy Report Series
• Main Authors: Søreide, Janne E., Gradinger, Rolf, Amargant-Arumí, Marti, Amundsen, Rita, Blitz-Thorsen, Julie, Bodur, Yasemin V., Digernes, Maria G., Ericson, Ylva, Flo, Snorre, Gawinski, Christine, Giebichenstein, Julia, Gjerland, Audun, Handegaard, Nils Olav, Hess, Silvia, Hoff, Siv, Ingebrigsten Monsen, Kristoffer, Jorda Molina, Eric, Jones, Elizabeth, Karlsson, Konrad, Keck, Amalia, Kohler, Stephen Gustav, Kristiansen, Jarle, H. Lødemel, Helene, Marquardt, Miriam, Mo-Bjørkelund, Tore, Nordstrand, Jan Vidar, Nowicki, Robynne, Ricardo de Freitas, Thaise, Sen, Arunima, Stabell, Hilde, Stippkugel, Angela, Vader, Anna, van Engeland, Tom, Varpe, Øystein, Wold, Anette, Yang, Ruochen, Zamelczyk, Kasia, Øverås, Lise
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Septentrio Academic Publishing 2022
• Subjects: Aen; Arctic; Barents Sea; Longyearbyen; Tromsø; Arctic Basin; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nansenlegacy/article/view/6750; https://doi.org/10.7557/nlrs.6750

This cruise was the second of in total four seasonal cruises with RV Kronprins Haakon in 2019/20 focusing on biology in the project Arven etter Nansen (AeN). This seasonal cruise was named Q4 (Q4= 4th quarter of the year) investigating in total 17 stations of the established AeN transect along 34 E in the Northern Barents Sea and adjacent Arctic Basin from 76 to 82°N (see Fig. 1 below). The cruise addressed objectives of the research foci in RF1 on Physical drivers, RF2 on Human drivers, RF3 on the living Barents Sea and RA-C Technology and method development, and collected a multitude of data along the Nansen Legacy transect which was ice covered except the southernmost station P1. In addition to in situ sampling, on board experiments were conducted to quantify biological processes, rates and interactions that will also be important feeds into modeling work and projections in RF4 The future Barents Sea. The cruise took a variety of continuous ship measurements (Weather station, EK80, EM203, ADCP, thermosalinograph, pCO2 underway) as well as station measurements such as CTD with water samples, biological sampling of the benthos (box corer, benthic trawl), water column (multinet, MIK net, macrozooplankton trawl and many other smaller nets) and sea ice (snow, ice cores, water just underneath sea ice). In addition, experimental work (respiration, grazing and egg production) was conducted in the ship’s laboratories. The chemistry team onboard measured oxygen, nutrients and pH from standard depths on most CTD stations and sea ice samples. The cruise started in Longyearbyen and ended in Tromsø (28.11.-17.12.2019). The sampling began at the deep (>3000 m) northernmost station of the transect, Stn. P7, and continued along the southward transect until station P1, in open water and Atlantic dominated water masses. During the expedition the Barents Sea was characterized by a relatively large sea ice cover with consolidated sea ice all the way from P7 to P2. The Polar Front was located just north of P1. All process ...