Thursday 26th January 2023
After an evening departure from Walvis Bay yesterday and a first ‘test’ station not far from the coast, we are now heading south, hunting for so-called filaments to track. The overarching aim of our research cruise is to investigate these features: elongated finger-shaped structures of cold seawater that penetrate outwards from the near coastal region into the warmer waters of the South Atlantic. Such filaments play a crucial role in connecting the seawater chemistry and biology of these two ocean systems and we want to find out how both evolve during a filament lifetime. To do this, our research will involve a diverse array of physics, chemistry and biology, investigated with a multitude of different sensors and sampling technologies. We invite you to learn more about this in our blog that team members will contribute to throughout our programme!
Tom Browning
GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel