AMT19
AMT19, the second
in the series of cruises funded by the Oceans 2025 programme set
sail from the UK on 13 October 2009 and arrived in Chile on 1
December 2009. The principal scientist was Andy Rees from the
Plymouth Marine Laboratory.
This was the longest voyage to date covering an immense 8500 miles
continuing the long-term collection of biological and chemical
observations of the remote Atlantic ecosystem. This included
research examining the impact of ocean acification on the activity
of specific marine bacteria that are an important part of the
global nitrogen cycle. New techniques were developed to determine
concentration levels and microbial turnover of compounds that are
important in atmospheric chemistry and provide a carbon source for
marine bacteria and phytoplankton. Results from this research
will increase our understanding of the processes that occur in the
Atlantic Ocean and will eventually feed into ecosystem models to
help forecast global change.
A data workshop from the cruise will be held in Plymouth on 9
June 2010.
Image courtesy of
NEODAAS.