Hydrothermalism and Deep-Water Ecosystems in the Atlantic Ocean (MSM 6 - Koordinatorantrag)

RV MARIA S. MERIAN巡航MSM 06包括三个航段，覆盖了大西洋的大部分（图1）。从法罗群岛开始，第一段行程集中于加迪斯湾的冷水珊瑚生态系统，那里的这些生态系统似乎与泥火山有关。这一段的主要目的是探测推动珊瑚分布的主要因素，并调查这些生态系统在过去不断变化的环境条件下是如何发展的。第二站和第三站都将集中调查热液系统。第二阶段将带来RV玛丽亚S。在MERIAN，计划对北大西洋西部大西洋中脊的Logatchev热液区进行一项以当地为重点的研究，探讨热液流体在时间和空间上组成差异的原因及其对该喷口区喷口群落的影响。第三段将侧重于中大西洋海脊的另一部分，更远的东部和赤道以南。将在四个不同的喷口区研究与大规模岩浆和构造过程对热液系统的影响有关的几个专题。为了实现模糊的既定目标，特别是对海底环境进行非常详细的调查，以实现这些目标是不可避免的，所有三条腿都将使用遥控潜水器作为主要科学仪器，强调新技术如何使科学工作达到迄今为止不可能达到的详细程度。第一站的重点是调查加迪斯湾的冷水珊瑚生态系统。泥火山上冷水珊瑚的随机发现表明，加迪斯湾的这些地形结构可以作为冷水珊瑚的栖息地。从这些调查结果来看，它们的区域分布似乎限于600至1 350米的深度间隔。通过使用不莱梅号切罗基、OFOS（洋底观测系统）摄影雪橇和一个视频引导的抓斗取样器，这一段的主要目的是查明和评价控制该区域冷水珊瑚分布的那些因素。对个别结构的详细视频观察将提供有关珊瑚在地形和海洋环境中的小规模分布（以及大规模分布的总和）以及珊瑚相关的动物群落的线索。除了视频观测和相关的测深和海洋学调查外，还将通过海洋观测站、视频引导的抓取取样以及标准取样方法进行有针对性的动物和沉积物取样。此外，还将取回沉积物岩心，以研究这些冷水珊瑚生态系统在不断变化的环境条件下的发展情况，例如冰川/间冰期变化。这次考察有助于爱马仕项目，这是一个由欧盟第六次FRP资助的综合项目。MSM 06/2：第二段的总体目标--将在DFG SPP 1144的主持下进行--是调查热液流体时空成分差异的原因及其对洛加切夫喷口群落的影响

RV MARIA S. MERIAN cruise MSM 06 comprises three legs that cover a large part of the Atlantic Ocean (Fig. 1). Starting at the Faroer Islands the first leg concentrates on cold-water coral ecosystems in the Gulf of Cadiz where these ecosystems seem to be related to mud volcanoes. The major aim of this leg is to detect the main forcing factors driving the distribution of the corals and to investigate how these ecosystems developed under changing environmental conditions in the past. The second and the third leg both will concentrate on the investigation of hydrothermal systems. Leg 2 will bring the RV MARIA S. MERIAN to the Logatchev hydrothermal field at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the western North Atlantic, where a locally focused study is planned to explore the causes for temporal and spatial compositional differences of hydrothermal fluids and their effect on the vent communities in this vent field. Leg 3 will focus on another section of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge further to the east and just south of the equator. There several topics related to the influences of large-scale magmatic and tectonic processes on hydrothermal systems will be investigated in four distinct vent fields. To achieve the ambiguous set-out goals, especially the very detailed investigation of sea floor settings inevitable to reach these goals, all three legs will employ a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) as the main scientific instrument underlining how new technologies enable scientific work on a hitherto impossible level of detail.MSM 06/1: The focus of the first leg is on the investigation of cold-water coral ecosystems in the Gulf of Cadiz. Random findings of cold-water corals on mud volcanoes have shown that these topographic structures in the Gulf of Cadiz can serve as habitats for cold-water corals. From these findings it seems that their regional distribution is limited to a depth interval of 600 to 1350 m. By employing the Bremen ROV CHEROKEE, the camera sledge OFOS (Ocean Floor Observation System) and a video-guided grab sampler, the main aim of this leg is to identify and to evaluate those factors that control the distribution of cold-water corals in this region. Detailed video observations on individual structures will provide clues about the small scale distribution (and in their sum on the large scale distribution) of the corals in relation to the topographic and oceanographic settings and on the faunal communities the corals are associated with. The video observations and related bathymetric and oceanographic investigations will be complemented by targeted fauna and sediment sampling by the ROV, video-directed grab sampling as well as by standard sampling methods. In addition, sediment cores will be retrieved to study the development of these cold-water coral ecosystems under changing environmental conditions, e.g. over glacial/interglacial changes. This expedition contributes to the HERMES project, an integrated project funded within the 6th FRP of the European Union.MSM 06/2: The overall goal of the second leg - to be conducted under the auspices of the DFG SPP 1144 - is the investigation of causes for temporal and spatial compositional differences of hydrothermal fluids and their effect on the vent communities in the Logatchev