NOC News Round Up - 12 April 2017

We're early this week because the NOC is closing for Easter today. Normal service resumes next week with the bulletin returning to a Friday distribution. NOC's deep-sea mining research featured on the BBC Did you see the BBC news report last night on deep-sea mining featuring the NOC's research? To watch and read this report, by David Shuckman, click here. The NOC is engaged in research into the potential risks and benefits of exploiting deep-sea mineral resources, some of which are essential for low-carbon technology, as well as using ocean robots to estimate the environmental impact of these potential deep-sea mining activities. Late last year the NOC led an expedition on the RRS James Cook that found enough of the scarce element Tellurium present in the crust of a submerged volcano that, if it were all to be used in the production of solar PV panels, could provide 2/3rds of the UK's annual electricity supply. Recently, the NOC also led an international study demonstrating deep-sea nodule mining will cause long-lasting damage to deep-sea life, lasting at least for decades. To learn more about the research NOC is doing on this topic click here RRS Discovery expedition to shed light on microplastics and ocean carbon This Friday the RRS Discovery will leave Southampton for a research expedition aiming to answer some fundamental questions about the distribution, fate and effects of microplastic pollution, as well as conducting an international collaboration at the Porcupine Abyssal Plane sustained ocean observatory. To read more about the expedition click here. You can also follow the expedition on twitter and instagram, as well as on the expedition blog. RAPID expedition collects the first data on nutrient flow The first data on the transport of carbon and nutrients within one of the world's largest system of ocean currents has been collected for the first time during the RAPID expedition. This data, collected as part of the ABC fluxes project, will enable an improved understanding of how the North Atlantic carbon sink will respond in the future to a changing climate. To find out more read the expedition blog here. NOC scientsts reach the southern-most point of the Ross Sea NOC scientists have recently returned from an expedition to the Ross Sea, Antarctica, as part of a range of international projects on board the RV OGS-EXPLORA. NOC led the collection of geophysical and oceanographic data from along the eastern Ross Sea continental shelf edge. This data will help to constrain past and present Antarctic ice-sheet dynamics. The 2017 Antarctic summer season has been an exceptional year for sea ice, with the lowest Antarctic sea-ice extent recorded in the last two decades. This allowed the ship to reach one of the furthest points south possible in the Ross Sea, reaching the Ross Ice Shelf front in the Bay of Whales. This expedition was funded by EUROFLEETS2 and PNRA (National Antarctic Research Program).   This email was sent using GovDelivery, on behalf of: National Oceanography Centre · Waterfront Campus · European Way · Southampton · SO14 3ZH · United Kingdom