NOC News Round Up - 28 April

Megacorer used to investigate deep-sea life This week NOC scientists have been collecting data on deep-sea life and microplastics, using a megacorer. Each tube in this Megacorer (pictured left) is used for a different analysis: macrofauna (or animals between 1 to 0.3 mm), meiofauna (< 0.15 mm), foraminifera, environmental DNA, biomarkers and microplastic contents.  Different protocols were used to get each type of data. On board, the team (pictured above) sliced the cores and preserved them according to what will be studied. To learn more about this process read the PAP-SO expedition blog here. NOC scientists LOCATE the Medway This week NOC scientists were taking water samples from the Medway River. This forms part of LOCATE program - a multi-disciplinary project that will undertake the first ever coordinated sampling of the major rivers in Great Britain. This will help scientists answer questions about the long-term fate of organic carbon held in soil over the next fifty to one hundred years by, establishing how much carbon from soils is getting into rivers and estuaries and determining what is happening to it. Marine oil snow in the Gulf of Mexico This week NOC scientist, Dr Sari Giering, gave a talk on her research into 'marine oil snow' after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The aim of this research, carried out by the University of California, Santa Barbara, was to understand the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. This information could help future accident response management to use the appropriate tools and prevent oil pollution on the sea floor - thereby protecting deep-sea fisheries. Autonomous Surface/Subsurface Survey System Trials Over the next two weeks, NOC engineers are working with Innovation Centre partners Sonardyne and ASV Global on the Autonomous Surface/Subsurface Survey System (ASSS) trials in Plymouth. Using Autosub Long Range (ALR) and an unmanned surface vehicle, the project is developing novel surface-to-subsurface communications between the two vehicles. The image here shows ALR-3 preparing for a shore deployment.   This email was sent using GovDelivery, on behalf of: National Oceanography Centre · Waterfront Campus · European Way · Southampton · SO14 3ZH · United Kingdom