NOC News Round Up - 5 May 2017

Could stored carbon leak through submarine chimneys? On Saturday the 29 April the German research vessel, Maria S. Merian, left Southampton for a research expedition to the Southern Viking Graben in the North Sea. The team on board will investigate the characteristics of sub-seafloor geological features known as chimney structures. Although these are common features, very little is known about their nature, in particular about their permeability for fluids. The science team, consisting of researchers from the NOC, GEOMAR, the University of Southampton and the University of Tromso will use state-of-the-art seismic techniques to investigate the characteristics of a selected chimney during the first leg. During the 2nd leg the British Geological Survey's sea floor drilling apparatus RockDrill2 will be used to sample the interior of the chimney directly, which will be analysed for core geology and fluid chemistry. This expedition is the first cruise of the NOC-led STEMM-CCS project to find out more click here. RRS Discovery returns to Southampton This week the RRS Discovery returned from the most recent expedition to the Porcupine Abyssal Plain sustained ocean observatory in the Northeast Atlantic. The expedition successfully recovered and redeployed the PAP moorings and a range of research relating to the biological carbon pump was undertaken. Near the end of the expedition a sea butterfly was caught (pictured below) using a zooplankton net. The 'Bathysnap' system for time-lapse photography of the seafloor was redeployed and continues to provide insights into deep-sea ecology. To learn more about the research carried out at this sustained ocean observatory, click here to read the expedition blog. A transparent Clio pyramidata sea snail A Clio pyramidata found in the Zooplankton nets deployed during the PAP-SO expedition NOC at European Marine Board Meetings Representatives of the NOC attend the spring meetings of the European Marine Board (EMB) and European Marine Board Communications Panel (EMBCP) in Tenerife (last week) and Italy (this week).  The EMB Spring Plenary meeting brought together 23 delegates and was hosted by EMB member IEO (Spanish Institute of Oceanography). The meeting took place at the Oceanographic Centre of Canarias. At the Open Session, presentations were made by the local host Director Luis Jose López Abellán and researcher Eugenio Fraile Nuez; and by Renuka Badhe (European Polar Board), Claire Jolly (OECD), Donatella de Pascale (CNR), Jeanette Andersen (University of Tromso) and Andrew Mearns Spragg (Jellagen). The Evening Lecture was given by Dorothy J. Dankel (University of Bergen) on Transdisciplinary Approach to Inform Marine Ecosystem-based Management. The EMB communications panel convened at the Institute of Marine Sciences (ISMAR) in Genova this week to share best practice on ocean science communications and plan future activities supporting the EMB. The group was treated to a tour of the excellent facilities at ISMAR being used to investigate micro and nano plastics in the ocean, a field high on many of the group's communication and public engagement agendas.   This email was sent using GovDelivery, on behalf of: National Oceanography Centre · Waterfront Campus · European Way · Southampton · SO14 3ZH · United Kingdom