Plattform Platform	Reise-Nr. Cruise-No.	Zeitraum Period	Projekt Project	Arbeitsgebiet Working area
Meteor	M129	30.07.2016 - 25.08.2016		NE Atlantic (Limit 40?W)

Fahrtleiter Chief Scientist	Institut Institute	Auslaufhafen Port of departure	Einlaufhafen Port of return	Stationskarte Station map	Schiffsroute Trackchart
Ekau Werner	Zentrum fur Marine Tropenokologie, Bremen	Ponta Delgada	Mindelo

Ziel der Reise / Objectives of Cruise:

The marine ecosystem on the shelf in the upwelling off Mauritania and Senegal is scientifically as well as economically of great interest. The ecological-biological expedition M129 focused on biogeochemical processes, trophic networks, and productivity and the interaction between shallow waters, the shelf, and the open ocean. Four major topics of research were covered during this cruise: A. The eutrophic, low-pH ecosystem off-shore Mauritania to Senegal. The sea off Mauritania and Senegal represents a transition zone between the relatively cool water masses of the Canary Current upwelling system coming from the North and the outreaches of the warm tropical waters of the Guinea Current from the South. B. Trophic networks in the upwelling eco-system Ciliates and heterotrophic dinoflagellates often have a larger grazing impact on autotrophs than do copepods. Understanding the mechansims underlying the carbon flux of the Mauritanian continental shelf requires better knowledge of the phytoplankton-protist and copepod-protist links C. Fisheries biology It is unclear what is the role of the Banc D'Arguin for the recruitment of commercial-ly interesting species and the outreach of this highly productive system to adjacent waters. It was further investigated the outreach of the Sine Saloum estuary in central Senegal to the shelf waters. D. The shallow-water "bioreactor" The mesotrophic to highly eutrophic conditions of the Mauritanian shallow waters are reflected in the strong dominance of hetero-zoan benthos on the Banc d'Arguin. This heterotrophic dominated biotic composition is typical for tropical shallow-water sys-tems and is explained by the extremely low transparency of the eutrophic waters that are loaded by eolian dust and high concen-trations of as yet unstudied microbes and plankton

Messungen / Measurements

Verankerungen / Moorings