Critical instrumentation for the study of geological, chemical and biological processes in marine sediments in Eastern Canada

我们所要求的钻井机队急需加强和更换我们部署在圣劳伦斯和北极地区的老化、损坏或丢失的取心设备。UQAR和它的非营利组织REFORMAR管理着加拿大科学界的研究船（R/V Coriolis II, Lampsillis, Louis-Edmond-Hamelin,），这些船提供通往圣劳伦斯海道的通道。这些船适合部署所需的取心套件。在北极，大多数团队成员都有NSERC-DG的资助，CCGS阿蒙森用于科学研究，有能力部署拟议的覆盖层。这些研究船是加拿大研究人员在圣劳伦斯和北极开展需要海底样本的研究项目时最具成本效益的（如果不是唯一的）方式。ISMER-UQAR取心套件在过去的20年里被加拿大社会广泛使用。大多数仪器现在都显示出严重磨损的迹象，并且越来越无法收集沉积物。从历史上看，除了ISMER-UQAR的广泛使用外，该取心设备还用于McGill， U. Laval, INRS-ETE, Concordia U.和UQAM的几位研究人员的研究项目，以及省级和联邦部委（例如，加拿大渔业和海洋，加拿大地质调查局，加拿大环境部）。从2001年到2021年，437名研究人员使用该设备在海上进行了110多次科学考察（海上842天），并用于1593 HQP的培训。现在，我们的箱盖，最近沉积物和底栖动物最常用的盖子需要紧急更换，因为它在海上丢失了。此外，我们缺乏在地表水界面附近取样底栖生物和生物地球化学的手段。我们寻求资金使我们的取心套件多样化，包括箱盖，锤盖，多盖和振动罩。盒子，锤子和多盖将提供更强大和更精确的从沉积物-水界面取样。振冲器可以穿透固结或较粗的沉积物，从而使我们能够获得砂质或固结层的沉积记录。锤盖非常适合在小船上进行浅水作业，可以降低操作成本。总之，该套件允许沉积物采样的完全集成，为新项目打开了大门，并促进了创新。我们还需要资金购买一个多罩，一个振动罩和一个小型便携式锤罩。加拿大海洋学研究的很大一部分依赖于这种设备，以便检索北极和圣劳伦斯的地质、生物和地球化学海洋学所需的沉积物。为了广泛使用设备，我们维护了一个可供所有加拿大研究人员使用的仪器池，并随时可供任何潜在用户使用。这保证了无论个人背景如何，所有人都可以使用该设备。

The fleet of corers we request is urgently needed to enhance and to replace, our ageing and broken or lost coring equipment that are deployed in the St. Lawrence and the Arctic. UQAR and its nonprofit organization, REFORMAR, manage research vessels for the Canadian scientific community (R/V Coriolis II, Lampsillis, Louis-Edmond-Hamelin,) which provides access to the St. Lawrence seaway. These ships are suitable for deploying the coring suite requested. In the Arctic, where most of the team members have NSERC-DG grants, the CCGS Amundsen is used for scientific research with the capacity to deploy the proposed corers. These research ships are the most (if not the only) cost-effective way for Canadian researchers to develop research projects requiring seafloor samples in the St. Lawrence and the Arctic. The ISMER-UQAR coring suite was used extensively over the past 20 years by the Canadian community. Most instruments now show signs of advanced wear and are becoming increasingly ineffective to collect sediments. Historically, in addition to the extensive use by ISMER-UQAR, the coring equipment was used for the research programs of several researchers from McGill, U. Laval, INRS-ETE, Concordia U. and UQAM, as well as by provincial and federal ministries (e.g., Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Geological Survey Canada, Environment Canada). From 2001-2021, the equipment was used by 437 researchers to recover samples for over 110 scientific expeditions at sea (842 days at sea) and used in the training of 1593 HQP. Now, our box corer, the most highly used of our corers for recent sediment and benthic fauna needs urgent replacement as it was lost at sea. Furthermore, we are lacking the means of sampling near the surface-water interface for benthic biology and biogeochemistry. We seek funding to diversify our coring suite including box corer, hammer corer, multi-corer and vibrocorer. The box, hammer and multi corer will provide enhanced and more precise access to samples from the sediment-water interface. The vibrocorer can penetrate consolidated or coarser sediments and thus allows us to access the sedimentary records of sandy or consolidated layers. The hammer corer is ideal for shallow water work aboard a small boat, which can lower operational costs. Together, this suite allows full integration of sediment sampling that opens the door to new projects and boosts innovation. We also request funds for a multi-corer, a vibrocorer and a small portable hammer corer. A large portion of Canadian oceanography research relies on this equipment in order to retrieve the sediments needed for geological, biological and geochemical oceanography in the Arctic and the St. Lawrence. To grant broad access to the equipment, we maintain a pool of instruments accessible by all Canadian researchers and readily available to any potential users. This guarantees that the equipment is available to all regardless of personal background.