HERMESHotspot Ecosystem Research on the Margins of European Seas

News updateIssue 9 Summer 2007

HERMES completes HERMES completes two epic ROV two epic ROV showcase cruisesshowcase cruises

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Left: serious equipment for serious science. Top: Deployment of the ROV Isis from RRS James Cook in the Gulf of Cadiz. Middle: the ROV Quest being launched for the last time during the cruise on RV Polarstern. Bottom: deployment of the submersible Jago to investigate the Rost reef.

Two showcase cruises involving the RRS James Cook and RV Polarstern have just come to an end, contributing a total of almost 16 weeks of shiptime to the HERMES field programme.

From 14 May to 7 July 2007 the UK’s new research vessel, RRS James Cook, undertook a HERMES tour of duty along the European margin, visiting mud volcanoes in the Gulf of Cadiz, the Portuguese submarine canyons and the Whittard Canyon in the southwest approaches to the English Channel. This was a particularly exciting and challenging cruise as the RRS James Cook was being used in conjunction with the UK’s ROV Isis for the first time. The cruise proved an outstanding success, despite some challenges along the way!

During virtually the same period (29 May - 25 July 2007), RV Polarstern undertook an 8-week expedition to Arctic waters, investigating various ecosystems in the most northerly of the HERMES study areas. Equipped with the submersible Jago and the ROV Quest (both used for the first time aboard Polarstern), this cruise was also split into three legs: the first was devoted to understanding the development and spread of cold-water coral reefs in the Lofoten region. After 3 weeks, attention then turned to the Håkon Mosby Mud Volcano and extensive ROV surveys of the volcano and its resident bacterial and fish communities. Finally, the Polarstern journeyed to the Hausgarten observatory site to turn around moorings and continue AWI’s long-term schedule of investigations with ROV.

Both the JC10 and ARK XXII-1 cruises involved a significant outreach component, providing opportunities for teachers and school pupils to experience life at sea as marine scientists. Accounts from some of these lucky individuals can be found inside this issue, as well as a summary of the science carried out.

In addition, major cruises have also been undertaken by NIOZ (RV Pelagia) and University of Gent (RV Belgica) to the Portuguese Margin and Gulf of Cadiz respectively, and more corals have been discovered in the eastern Mediterranean. Read on to find out more!

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In this issue...JC10: Mud volcanoes & canyonsClassroom@Sea on JC10Moroccan mud volcanoesRV Pelagia goes canyon-mad

Holothurian bathroom habitsRV Polarstern’s Arctic epicStudents’ Arctic adventureNew corals found in E. Med

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Franken Mound: new insightsThe Aberdeen DeclarationThe SESAME projectNoticeboard

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Above: Detailed bathymetric map of the Carlos Ribeiro mud volcano (2400m water depth), including a relatively recent mudflow extending out to the SE. Data acquired by ROV-mounted MS2000 swath system.

Above left: Using the temperature probe at the Mercator mud volcano. Video footage of this activity shows methane gas bubbling out of thesediment as the probe is pushed in. Right: Microbiologist John Parkes wrestles with a sediment core

JC10 Leg 1: Mud volcanoes in the Gulf of Cadiz

Above: NOCS geochemist Doug Connelly installing the AquaMonitor water sampling system for deployment by the ROV.

First on the JC10 cruise agenda was a 20-day stint in the Gulf of Cadiz, examining the Darwin, Mercator and Carlos Ribeiro mud volcanoes. With a scientific team on board comprising geochemists, geologists, biologists and microbiologists from NOCS and the universities of Ghent, Aveiro and Cardiff, sampling and surveying during this leg was frenetic!

Each mud volcano was initially mapped using the high resolution ROV-mounted MS2000 sonar system, with detailed maps of the mud volcanoes available for use shortly after the end of the dive. Video and still image transects were run over each of the mud volcanoes and samples of the meio, macro- and mega-fauna collected for morphological and molecular analysis.

Each of the mud volcanoes revealed special features: Mercator at 300m depth was dominated by fish at both the seabed and in the water column. At 1200m depth, Darwin MV appeared to be a mud volcano in decline, with the seabed strewn with dead mussel shells and live mussels only found in the cracks between the polygonal calcareous plates that made up most of the seabed. Experimental settlement substrata including rabbit chow and wood were deployed. The deepest mud volcano visited was Carlos Ribeiro at 2400m depth. The seabed at the centre of this mud volcano was concentrically undulating with a mud flow extending out to the southeast. A significant feature of this mud volcano was the high density of the holothurian Benthothuria associated with the recent mudflow and the high density of gorgonian and antipatharian corals around the periphery of the mud volcano.

The ROV and its range of coring devices provided an excellent platform for collecting a comprehensive set of sediment cores, porewater and bottom water samples, which will provide an insight into the source and amount of fluid expulsion and alteration of the sediment. Sediment cores were collected from background, rim and crater positions where possible. With the ROV we were able to take push cores from different habitats within the crater. At both Mercator and Darwin MV, gas bubbles were observed emitting from reducing sediments but an associated ecosystem was only noted at Darwin MV. Fluids at Mercator are highly saline in parts and the associated sediment contained gypsum and halite crystals several cm in size.

The microbiology team on board, comprising John Parkes and Barry Cragg from Cardiff University and Lois Maiginen from University of Gent, took extensive samples from each of the mud volcanoes, extracting samples of anaerobic methane oxidising bacteria for analysis. The aim was to identify the main microbial processes and the composition of the microbial communities thriving in original systems such as mud volcanoes. Methanogenesis, sulphate reduction and anoxic oxidation of methane were quantified at each mud volcano by using radio-labeled tracers. Back in the lab on dry land, the microbial community structure will be investigated with molecular methods based on DNA extraction from the sediment or microscopy. This work will allow us to better understand how microbes shape the geochemistry of these marine sediments, and to link the microbial diversity with the activity of these sediment ecosystems.

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Above: a) An inquisitive Portuguese dogfish takes a closer look at the ROV; b) the rich sessile filter feeder community on the steep and overhanging walls of the Lisbon Canyon (ca. 1600m depth), including brachiopods, bivalves, anemones and sponges. The laser pointers (bottom left) are 10 cm apart; c) deployment of the Benthic Incubation Chamber System (BICS), designed to measure in-situ respiration rates of starfish and brittle stars; d) BICS in situ on the seabed in the Setúbal Canyon (1400m). The seastar in the scoop was placed in one of the chambers, which was then closed for the oxygen consumption measurements for up to 48 hours. Note the 3 plastic bags that became snagged on the unit since its arrival on the seabed ca. 5 hours before; e) brisingid seastar in the Nazare Canyon; f) One of the Feedex experimental units being subsampled by pushcore.

Amongst the more geological highlights of the cruise was the discovery of polymict deposits (rounded conglomerates) at the distal end of Nazare Canyon (4300 m), at a depth where the canyon floor broadens and becomes flatter. However, a fairly recent phase of renewed incision is indicated by a narrow, localised thalweg cutting through the conglomerates. The thalweg has eroded into the underlying bedrock, allowing its colonisation by various filter-feeding species including stalked crinoids, anemones and octocorals. The large, metre-scale boulders in this area illustrate the transport capacity and force of the currents that once flowed down the canyon.

Another indication of mass-wasting was found in the neighbouring Cascais Canyon, where the team investigated a landslide deposit previously mapped with TOBI sidescan sonar. This may well be a deposit resulting from the infamous 1755 earthquake that destroyed large parts of Lisbon, and several ROV pushcores were carefully taken for 210Pb dating back at base. The ROV swath system revealed that some of the blocks are up to 10 m high and show clear flow structures in the surrounding sediments.

At the end of Leg 1, the James Cook steamed north to Cadiz for a 24-hour break before setting out for Leg 2. This second phase of the cruise centred on a combination of observation and experimentation in the submarine canyons off the west coast of Portugal. The main target area of this leg of the cruise was the Nazare Canyon, with deployment of in situ experiments at 3500m, observational work at 4500m and between 2000 and 500m near the head of the canyon.

One of the key highlights of the cruise was the set of biological experiments, carefully placed, triggered and observed at chosen locations on the canyon floors. Using the BICS (Benthic Incubation Chamber System), Sarah Murty (NOCS) measured the oxygen consumption rates of a variety of echinoderms at depths ranging from 1000 to 3500 m. A more general respiration and feeding experiment, targeting the entire benthic infaunal community in the upper cm of the seabed, was carried out by the team from the University of Aberdeen. Using isotopically labelled phytodetritus, it will give an insight into the role of the sedimentary communities in deep-sea carbon cycling. Specific feeding tests for nematodes (‘Feedex’) were set up in the Nazaré Canyon for Jeroen Ingels and Wouter Willems (U. Gent), while Teresa Amaro (U. Aveiro/NOCS), assisted by Sylvia Bianchelli (CoNISMa) and Ben Boorman (NOCS), studied the role of micro-organisms within the holothurian gut system with a device that was quickly baptised the ‘holothurian toilet’ (see Teresa’s article on p9 of this issue). Water and SAPS samples were also taken for organic analysis by Kostas Kiriakoulakis from University of Liverpool.

During the experimental deployments the elevator being used to lower the experiments attracted grenadiers and a large black shark-like fish thought to be a Portuguese dogfish.

JC10 Legs 2 & 3: What’s in a canyon...?

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Right: Preliminary on-board processing results of a ROV-based high-resolution bathymetry survey in Nazare Canyon at 3500m depth. Turbidity currents have eroded a sharply incised thalweg in the relatively broad and gently sloping canyon floor. The steep flanks are cut by gullies and show evidence of repeated shallow mass wasting events.

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Observational work in the upper part of the Nazare Canyon proved difficult. CTD and nephelometry suggested that the deeper water in the canyon was turbid and this was confirmed during the dive. The turbidity was associated with strong currents and the ROV could not make headway even at full speed. Sampling was impossible as the seabed was completely obscured! During all these dives Isis moved upslope into clearer water and characterised the seabed to a depth of ~500m. As in the Setubal Canyon, the dominant taxon were brisingid seastars perched both on rock outcrops and on the sediments of the seafloor.

A unique opportunity presented itself towards the end of Leg 2 for a number of journalists, including the BBC, to travel out to the James Cook and spend time on board interviewing the scientific team. This was made possible by colleagues at the Instituto Hidrografico in Lisbon, who used the RV Don Carlos I to transfer the journalists from Lisbon to a rendezvous point about 10 NM offshore, where the James Cook was working in the head of the canyon. During the transit, the journalists were given an overview of HERMES and the investigations currently ongoing in the Nazare-Setubal-Lisbon canyon area. The response from the journalists was very positive, with numerous articles appearing in the Portuguese media, and an feature article on the main BBC news in the UK and on BBC World.

Leg 2 ended in Lisbon on 21 June as the James Cook prepared to host the UK’s Parliamentary Committee for Science and Technology. This committee met all the scientists from Legs 2 and 3, and toured the ship and ROV. An evening reception gave the politicians the opportunity to chat to scientists, students and crew, and they went home with a very positive view of the new ship and the work we are doing in HERMES.

The final leg of the cruise set out from Lisbon in deteriorating weather conditions. Retrieval of the experiments in Nazare Canyon became somewhat fraught, and some pieces of equipment were lost in the bad conditions. This was followed

by some trawling before moving north in worsening weather conditions to the Whittard Canyon. ROV transects in the Whittard Canyon were highly successful with high densities of an ophiacanthid seastar discovered on the canyon floor. After the completion of the observations in Whittard Canyon, James Cook steamed home to NOCS, arriving in Southampton on 7 July after a total of 53 days at sea doing HERMES research.

Overall, the range of ROV dives and transects carried out in all parts of the Portuguese and Whittard Canyons have given us a real appreciation for the complexity of these ecosystems. So far we have only seen the tip of the iceberg. To finally see the environment that we have been ‘blindly’ sampling for years was a real eye-opener, and one of the greatest surprises was the patchiness of the habitats and the variability of the terrain. At several locations we found specialised communities, apparently dominated by one or a few species: xenophyophores, holothurians, crinoids, anemones,… while other, mainly vertical or overhanging parts of the canyon flanks, are home to a varied community of sessile filter-feeders. One observation we will sadly all take home was the high volume of human rubbish on the seabed. Unfortunately canyons not only appear to focus biodiversity, they also seem to be very effective at funnelling human waste to the deep-sea...

What’s in a canyon...? [continued from previous page]

Top: Arrival of the first boat-load of journalists from the RV Don Carlos I. Above: NOCS PhD student Sarah Murty chats to the BBC about her research.

Top: Scientists and MPs on the deck of RRS James Cook in Lisbon. Above: Captain Robin Plumley and the splendid HERMES cake created by the ship’s catering team.

Beasts from the deep: some of the creatures encountered by the ROV in the Whittard Canyon during Leg 3

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“I am a socio-economist (with a background in particle physics) and my main tasks in the HERMES programme concern the design and implementation of the science-policy interfaces and contributing to the development of social science research on human interactions with deep-sea ecosystems and on deep-sea governance. In June 2007 I was invited to participate in a NOCS HERMES research cruise, so I joined the second leg of the JC10 cruise on the RRS James Cook, which explored the canyons off the coasts of Portugal. I learnt many things from this experience, some of which will help me significantly in my future work.

I obviously learned a lot about the deep sea itself and about deep sea science, as I had plenty of time to ask the people on board all the

questions I wanted, be it during night shifts in the ROV control room, whilst sieving mud, or in the bar… From the daily involvement in scientific activities (even if it was only as a ‘petite main’, as we say in French) I learned about the research process: equipment and its use, methods and rhythms, stresses and failures, successes and wonders, inventiveness and patience. I witnessed how interdisciplinarity takes place in practice - whereby scientists of different disciplines collaborate towards a common objective of improving our knowledge and understanding of ecosystems. I was seduced by the collaboration among scientists - not only from different disciplines, but also from different origins and cultural backgrounds. This is in part due to the existence of HERMES which facilitates increased collaborations at European level. Beyond interdisciplinarity and internationality, I was struck by the importance of collaboration not only among scientists, engineers and technicians, but among each and every person on board, to ensure the success of scientific endeavour.

I also learned a lot about human beings and human relationships. It is a somewhat unique experience to be at sea, with a highly diverse group of people working towards a peaceful objective. It gave me new insights on group dynamics, conflicts and collaborations. It also made me reflect on our society and its dysfunctions.

As my personal professional interest is on the role of science in society in general and in environmental governance in particular, I highly value all these new ‘hands-on’ insights on deep-sea research and its actors. They have already influenced the way I work in HERMES. But, beyond that, they constitute a memorable personal experience, for which I am most grateful to those who made it possible and to all the wonderful people I met on board.”Left: Sybille enjoying a less conventional view of the RRS James Cook

Memoirs of a socio-economist at seaby Sybille van den Hove, MEDIAN

JC10 Rogue’s Gallery Faces, but no names...

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The Classroom@Sea experience on JC10

As followers of the Classroom@Sea website will already know, each leg of the JC10 cruise was home to two school teachers, who joined the cruise as part of the scientific team.

Joining the first leg were Gillian McGahan (UK) and Eduard Vives Mayol (Spain). The second leg hosted Virginia Martins (Portugal) and Helen Candy (UK), and participating in the final leg were Tina Hedger and Richard Ingram (both UK). All are teachers of various science subjects to secondary level pupils (aged 11-16), and for all of them this was their first time at sea.

As the first of the six teachers to venture onto the James Cook, Gill and Eduard were understandably nervous, as Gill recalls: “At the beginning of the three weeks, Eduard and myself were full of anticipation if not some trepidation. Having never been to sea before, what had we let ourselves in for…?” Eduard agrees: “When I arrived in Vigo and I saw the RRS James Cook I felt hugely excited and eager to get on board, although at first I was quite nervous, to be honest. I felt like a little first-time sailor in an English vessel….which I was, actually! Everything was new, and it finally dawned on me that the RRS James Cook would be my home for three weeks. Two months ago, I could not imagine that I would be chosen as one of the lucky six teachers. Fortunately, all the crew were very helpful from the first day, so I very quickly got used to life on board.”

The teachers worked alongside the scientific team, helping out with sampling and processing, and fitting in with the shift patterns… although night shifts took some getting used to! “The more challenging aspects involved being on night shift for a sustained period of time,” explains Richard. “I found it hard to adjust, especially as it was difficult to sleep due to noise and the motion of the ship. It was also somewhat overwhelming to begin with to get to grips with the different areas of research on board. As my knowledge of marine biology and geology is quite basic, it took a little while to get up to speed. Having said this however, it also meant that it was easier to describe the processes involved in layman’s terms, as this was how I had to think of them first! This means that the pupils probably found the information easier to digest.”

The ROV proved a real highlight for the teachers (as well as for the scientists!). Helen says, “Our 8 hours a day in the ROV control van were long, but we had the opportunity to see some incredible life forms and geological structures - it was truly amazing. During our 3 week trip, we were able to take hundreds of photographs of the seabed, cliffs, boulders and overhangs, and for the first time get a real insight into the ecosystems that can survive in this fast-moving canyon environment.”

Eduard agrees: “The best window to the deep-sea life is using a ROV, and for this we had Isis! I had the opportunity to see the technicians and the scientists working together on the dives to discover what was happening on the seafloor. It was amazing to sit in the control van and watch the live video feed on the monitors. Each sighting was fascinating: octopus, squid, scabbard fish, bluemouth fish, sponges, tuna, anemones…I have these images etched on my brain. I won’t forget the wreck dive either. Spending a whole night following the progress of the ROV as it flew over the wreck of the ‘Kumanovo’ was so impressive that I could not find the words to express it in the daily blog!”

All teachers found the experience highly valuable, both as a personal adventure and in terms of their careers and their approach to teaching. Richard says “I am now much more knowledgeable of the research and sampling methods of marine scientists. This means that in the classroom I will be able to talk with at least some degree of authority about what scientists do at sea and back in the lab. There is also tremendous satisfaction in knowing that the resources developed as part of Classroom@Sea will be used by the pupils at my school and by pupils in other schools across Europe.”

Gill says “As a professional teacher it is probably the best professional development I could have had. This experience has made me think of new ways to approach teaching. I have been given so much interesting support material and made aware of so many resources that have been developed to enable us to teach science through Oceanography and I hope to be able to encourage colleagues to use this to develop their teaching as well. I feel that I now have a much better and deeper understanding of biodiversity along the European margins and I am really looking forward to sharing this with my pupils.”

To read the teachers’ daily blogs, visit www.classroomatsea.net

Above, from left: Virginia helps Andy Gooday out with foram picking; NOCS PhD student Abi (left) shows Helen how to process push cores; Rochard gets his hands dirty, and Gill cleans out the AquaMonitor.

Above, left: Eduard and Gill take a break whilst waiting for the ROV to surface. Right: Eduard (right) makes use of his chemistry background to help Doug Connelly with processing samples in the lab.

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From 4-15 June 2007, RV Belgica and her science team from University of Gent, University of Aveiro and Institut Scientifique, Rabat, re-visited the El Arraiche mud volcano field off NW Morocco, discovered in 2002. A major objective of the cruise was continuation of site surveying in preparation for mound and mud volcano drilling (IODP proposals 673 and 689 and EU FP7 Support Action proposal MeBoTech), as well as the targeted assessment of the diversity and functionality of ecosystems found on mounds and mud volcanoes (HERMES, ESF EUROCORES ‘Eurodiversity’ project MiCROSYSTEMS and ‘Eurodeep’ project CHEMECO).

In addition to the detailed survey of the Pen Duick escarpment mounds, which highlighted remarkable contrasts in geological settings, a hitherto scarcely visited range of carbonate mounds topping a cliff on the north flank of Vernadsky Ridge was explored with high-resolution seismics, dives with the ROV Genesis and subsequent sampling with box-cores. This cliff setting features thriving fish communities and scattered - though spectacular - occurrences of crinoids, sponges, soft corals and gorgonians. The ‘fuzzy’ acoustic response on some mounds was quickly ground-truthed: ROV dives revealed very thick, localised accumulations of dead scleractinian corals, topped by forests of gorgonians. A 60cm-high box core was filled from top to bottom with dead coral rubble! Underneath the mounds, steep rock outcrops provide shelter for crustaceans and fishes, not the least for the mighty conger.

An ROV survey of the Mercator mud volcano, supported by the microbathymetry acquired by the RRS James Cook cruise a week earlier, revealed the occurrence of large amphora-shaped sponges on the northern rim of the crater. Colonisation containers deployed by the James Cook could be spotted by accurate navigation.

With 10 ROV dives, almost 500 miles of top-quality seismic lines and 17 successful multicorer/box core deployments on mounds and 5 mud volcanoes, the second HERMES cruise of RV Belgica on the Moroccan margin has collected a wealth of new data and reports the IODP targets ready for drilling.

RV Belgica sheds new light on escarpment mound and mud volcano ecosystems off Morocco

Right, from top: fields of crinoids covering a thick accumulation of dead coral rubble, Conger Cliff mounds, Vernadsky Ridge, off NW Morocco; some of the many large amphora-shaped sponges on the north rim of Mercator mud volcano crater; seafood on the Gemini mud volcano; macrobenthos colonisation experiment site, deployed by RRS James Cook on Mercator MV during the previous week.

Left: Sample of coral brought up by ROV.

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The Portuguese margin and Whittard Canyon were the target areas of a cruise carried out with RV Pelagia of Royal NIOZ, Texel, from 19 May to 11 June 2007. The cruise, funded by the Dutch Science Foundation (NWO), set out to investigate dispersal of anthropogenic lead in submarine canyons, and offered opportunities for complementary studies by HERMES partners.

During the first part of the cruise two benthic landers, deployed by NIOZ to record near-bottom currents and suspended sediment transport, were recovered from the Lisbon and Setúbal Canyons, thus completing a long series of observations that started in 2002 as part of the the FP5 EUROSTRATAFORM project.

Surface sediment cores from the canyons and adjacent continental slope were collected to complement the study of microbial and meiofauna diversity carried out under WP1 by CoNISMa. Attempts to collect Molpadiid holothurians from

the Setúbal and Cascais Canyon for a study by NOCS were without success, but some good material was retrieved from the Nazaré Canyon. More on this work can be found in Teresa Amaro’s article on the next page.

After a stop at Cascais, the second part of the cruise was focused on exploring hydrography and sediment dynamics of the Whittard Canyon. In contrast to the Portuguese canyons, the Whittard Canyon comprises a dendritic array of main channels with numerous tributaries, and is separated from the nearest landmasses by more than 300 km of continental shelf. Despite the distance from land, four benthic landers deployed by NIOZ recorded surprisingly high suspended sediment transport in the canyon. Whether this involves only recycling of ‘old’ sediment, or includes biologically active fresh material, is a question that can only be answered through further analysis of the material collected by sediment traps and in sediment cores. Judging from seabed video surveys at 1000 and 2000 m depth, the canyon appears less rich in benthic fauna than the canyons of the Portuguese margin.

RV RV Pelagia Pelagia cruise 64PE269: cruise 64PE269: Exploring the Whittard CanyonExploring the Whittard Canyon

Above - clockwise from top left: Boxcoring in the Cascais Canyon yielded stones but no Molpadia musculus; Piston coring in the Lisbon Canyon; Teresa Amaro at work in the cold lab on RV Pelagia. Photos courtesy Carlo Fiori and Henko de Stigter.

Above - clockwise from left: Recovery of a mooring from the Whittard Canyon; Deployment of the BOBO lander in the Whittard Canyon; Rounded limestone boulders in the thalweg of Whittard Canyon. Photos courtesy Jan Deijkers.

A WP10 project linking SMEs with HERMES graduates is just getting underway. The WP10 team are encouraging HERMES alumni/ graduates/students (who have not done so already) to submit their profile information for inclusion on the HERMES website. The HERMES educational website already contains profiles of some of our HERMES students, but we would like to showcase all of you! The profiles are easy to submit - all you have to do is fill out a simple form and send it to Nora Hanelt at n.hanelt@iu-bremen.de.The profile template can be downloaded from: http://www.edu-hermes.org/learn.php?do=graduates. For an idea of what your finished profile will look like, you can view Abigail Pattenden’s profile at: http://www.edu-hermes.org/learn.php?do=graduates&degree=3.

Calling all HERMES students...

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The recent cruises of the RV Pelagia and RRS James Cook have initiated a series of experiments using ROV technology to discover the secrets of holothurians living at 3 km beneath the ocean surface.

One of the major scientific challenges in deep-sea research is the understanding of processes, interactions and functioning of different biotic components inhabiting these extreme systems. Previous studies revealed that the burrowing holothurian, Molpadia musculus, was present in all canyons (i.e., the Nazaré, Cascais and Setúbal canyons) investigated along the Portuguese margin at depths >3000 m, but displayed huge abundances in the Nazaré Canyon. The reasons for this ‘superabundant’ presence are still unknown, and there is a need for specific investigations aimed at clarifying the ecology of this key species.

Gathering new insights on deep-sea ecosystem functioning requires dedicated in situ experiments. In June 2007, scientists from NOCS/CESAM (Southampton, UK/Aveiro, Portugal) and CoNISMa (Ancona, Italy) designed a series of in situ experiments to understand interactions between megafauna (holothurians) and prokaryotes in the Portuguese deep-sea canyons. The specific objective was to determine the feeding adaptations of these organisms. The hypothesis was that Molpadia musculus established peculiar trophic interactions with prokaryotes in order to enhance its ability to digest sedimentary organic material.

Specimens of Molpadia musculus were collected in the Nazaré Canyon using box cores deployed by RV Pelagia and the ROV Isis operated from RRS James Cook. Some specimens were preserved for further laboratory analyses, others were kept alive for further in situ experiments.

3 in situ experiments were performed using the ROV: the holothurians were incubated in a specially-designed device to collect their faecal material. At the same time, 3 sediment cores were collected using the ROV. By doing this the scientists are able to compare prokaryote communities inhabiting the sediments (upon which the holothurians feed), the guts of the holothurians, and their faecal matter. Analysis based on molecular fingerprinting techniques (T-RFLP and ARISA) coupled with others focusing on functional aspects (such as extracellular enzymatic activities and prokaryote carbon production) were conducted. Further experiments were carried out to investigate the bioavailability of the potential food sources of Molpadia musculus and the associated microbial food webs (from viruses to meiofauna).

These studies will allow us to better understand the complex trophic and functional interactions among different benthic components, and their role in influencing deep-sea ecosystem functioning and biodiversity. It is quite possible that the mysterious superabundance of megafauna in the Nazaré canyon is key to the solution.

Experimental device on RRS James Cook (near right), and the structure in situ at 3400m in the Nazaré canyon, deployed by ROV Isis (far right). The gear is affectionately known as the ‘holothurian toilet’.

3400m down in the canyons of the Atlantic...

Above, from left: The holoturian Molpadia musculus (A) and the detail of the gut (B); NOC/CESAM and CoNISMa-ULR Ancona team collecting Molpadia musculus on RV Pelagia.

Teresa Amaro, NOCS/UAveiro

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On 29 May 2007, RV Polarstern left the rain-soaked port of Bremerhaven to embark on an 8-week expedition to the most northerly HERMES study sites. Carrying an international team of scientists and equipped with the submersible JAGO, the Polarstern headed through the North Sea to the Lofoten area, where the first leg of the cruise was dedicated to the study of the region’s spectacular cold-water coral reefs.

The Sula Reef was the first site under scrutiny, undergoing a detailed morphological survey to contribute to exisiting data already collected by HERMES partners. Once the survey was complete, the ship and its team headed out to the Røst Reef, near the southwestern edge of the Lofoten Islands - the main focus of this first leg. Detailed sampling across the reef using box cores aimed to characterise the different zones of the reef, from the dead reef/sponge zone to the living reef zone. Following sampling, the manned submerisble JAGO was deployed to collect video footage and sample fauna. The calm weather conditions enabled two or three dives per day, with the scientists involved arriving back at the surface full of amazement at the colourful and rich reef ecosystem. From Røst, the team moved on to the Traena Reef area, where the intense programme of dives continued, interspersed with Hydrosweep surveying and grab sampling. A brief return to Røst saw the completion of JAGO’s 1000th dive, investigating the origin and geological structures of the reef.

The final three days of the first leg were spent at Sotbakken - an area of coral reef which is relatively unexplored. Four JAGO dives revealed a rich reef environment, which was then sampled by grab, box corer and gravity corer and surveyed by video transects and Hydrosweep.

Sampling completed, the RV Polarstern headed for a brief port call in Tromsø for exchange of scientific personnel, offloading of JAGO and loading of the ROV Quest, essential for work in legs 2 and 3 of the cruise. A VIP dinner reception was held on the bridge of the Polarstern for delegates from the US Commission on Arctic Research and Norwegian politicians, directors and leading scientists from various research institutes.

The Polarstern set sail again on the afternoon of 23 June, bound for the Håkon Mosby mud volcano. After an overnight transit, the team on board got to work the following morning, managing to deploy the ROV Quest only 18 hours after leaving port. At 1250 m water depth white bacterial mats were sampled with push corers for further studies in the laboratories. The quality of the high resolution camera was outstanding – extremely detailed videos were recorded. After the recovery of Quest in the early hours of the evening, the first winch operated sampling started by use of a multicorer. Sediment samples from the Håkon Mosby were not only analysed in different laboratories but also spread all over the main working deck.

A free-falling lander system equipped with baited traps was deployed and remained on the sea floor for two days to catch demersal fish which are extremely abundant at this mud volcano.

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Caption

Corals, mud volcanoes and polar bears: Corals, mud volcanoes and polar bears: 8 weeks in the Arctic on RV 8 weeks in the Arctic on RV PolarsternPolarsternSubmersible JAGO and ROV Quest deployed from RV Polarstern for the first time

Right: Launching the manned submersible JAGO.

Cruise newsIssue 9 Page 11

A routine was quickly established on board the ship: early in the morning the ‘elevator’ was deployed - a big container for samples and instruments - followed by the ROV for a dive of between 10 and 14 hours. After recovery of the ROV, winch-operated gear was deployed to sample the seafloor. Several cores were recovered under ambient pressure with a dynamic autoclave piston corer developed at University of Bremen. This technology enables collection of gas hydrate, which are stable only under specific pressure and temperature regimes, with minimal loss of volatile gases. The first deployment proved to be a great success as extremely high quantities of methane from gas hydrates were recorded during the controlled depressurisation of the sediment core. Gas samples were collected for further analysis at the home laboratories.

A spell of stormy weather accelerated the sampling programme at HMMV: gravity corer, dynamic autoclave piston corer, multiple corer, giant box corer, temperature loggers and a free-falling lander system were quickly deployed and recovered to take advantage of the calm conditions before bad weather stopped play. After a couple of days, the calm weather returned and the science programme resumed with the ROV Quest diving during the day and winch-operated gear deployed at night. A detailed survey of temperature variation across the mud volcano was carried out using a temperature lance: temperature sensors are attached at defined intervals along a 6 m steel pipe which measure the ambient temperature at an accuracy of 0.002 °C and every 5 seconds. At the centre of the mud volcano, the lance (which weighs just over 1 ton) sank 80 m into an almost liquid mud with a temperature of 25°C in the upper metres. As the temperature of the bottom water is -0.8°C, this represents an enormous temperature gradient! This exercise allowed the team to obtain one of the deepest temperature profiles ever measured at a mud volcano.

Following the successful completion of a total of 10 ROV dives in less than 14 days, RV Polarstern headed for port in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. After a quick turnaround of personnel and equipment, the ship headed out on its final leg to the long-term Hausgarten observatory site. First task on the list was the recovery of a mooring deployed by RV Maria S. Merian the previous summer, followed by a series of samples. On arrival at the next sample station, drifting ice caused much excitement amongst the team but posed some temporary difficulties for recovering landers.

Moorings at the site were recovered after 10 months of successful observations. Other activities included deploying landers for short-term observations, towed camera trasects, maintenance of long-term experimental installations on the seabed and a number of ROV dives for pushcore sampling. A new micro-profiler system developed by AWI was put to work for the first time. The micro-electrode sensors of this so-called 3D profiler can be moved to different pre-programmed positions to generate a three-dimensional image of the physico-chemical micro-environment of the upper 10-15 cm of the sediment. Together with sediment samples, this enables scientists to correlate the distribution pattern of organisms with abiotic factors measured under ambient conditions.

A key event in the second half of the final leg was a complicated rescue mission to retrieve the remains of a mooring form the northernmost Hausgarten sample station: a sediment trap, a current meter, two acoustic releasers and a pack of buoyancy glass spheres remained on the seafloor. A nail-biting operation with the ROV and successful release of the instruments from the seafloor led to successful rescue of €100, 000 worth of equipment. An additional bonus was that the sediment trap had worked, contributing invaluable information to the Hausgarten dataset.

The Polarstern Expedition ARK XXII/1 finished on arrival in Tromsø on 25 July. Favoured by almost constant calm conditions, the teams were able to achieve more than expected. For PI Michael Klages and the others who were on board for the whole 8 weeks, the long summer holidays ahead are much needed!

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RV RV PolarsternPolarstern Arctic expedition Arctic expedition [Continued from previous page]

Clockwise from upper left: Temperature lance measurements with the ROV Quest at the Håkon Mosby Mud Volcano (image courtesy MARUM); the JAGO team celebrate their 1000th dive; Push core sampling of white microbial mats at the Håkon Mosby Mud Volcano (image courtesy MARUM); Lonely traces of a polar bear on a drifitng ice floe (image courtesy M. Eggermont, UGent).

Above: Recovery of the lost mooring - this sediment trap was part of the mooring stranded on the seafloor that was rescued by ROV Quest (image courtesy M. Eggemont, UGent).

Right: Successful recovery of pressurised cores enabled samples of gas hydrate to be brought up to the surface.

A more detailed account, sent weekly from the ship during the cruise, is available via the ‘Latest news’ section of the HERMES website.

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Subleg 1a (29 May-21 June 2007) of the recent RV Polarstern cruise to the Nordic margin carried four special passengers: two German and two Norwegian high school pupils, recruited through Jacobs University Bremen’s HERMES outreach programme. The school pupils’ participation is intended to give the pupils practical, hands-on exposure to marine research and to the cold-water coral ecosystems, as well as outreaching to their fellow pupils and general public on land.

During this leg to the cold-water corals sites off Norway (Sula, Roest, Floholmen, Traena and Sotbakken), the pupils carried out their own experiments and learned how to write scientific reports, as well as participating in ‘second-hand submersible dives’! The school pupils undertook a variety of practical learning experiences onboard Polarstern which are not available during normal school classes - a unique opportunity that other pupils can only dream of! They also brought back some scientific samples for their schools, in order to share the information with their fellow school pupils.

The pupils contributed their Daily Expedition Logbook to newspapers and the HERMES educational website as well as other articles and school class materials. Find out more at http://www.edu-hermes.org/polarstern.

Teachers and pupils Teachers and pupils join RV join RV PolarsternPolarstern on on Arctic missionArctic missionThe third leg of the Polarstern Expedition (10-25 July 2007) hosted three school teachers from Belgium, Germany and Norway. This leg, departing from Longyearbyen (Spitsbergen) and ending in Tromsø, visited the long-term HAUSGARTEN observatory site.

Thale Kristine Smaadahl teaches maths and nature in Tromsdalen Videregaende Skole in Norway: “I have an interest in the environment, especially global warming. I think this is a great possibility to see and learn how scientists research environmental change. I want also to be an ambassador for my school, and inspire pupils and colleges in environmental topics with the insights, knowledge and skills acquired during the expedition.”

Michael Bauer is a teacher of physics and biology in Erich Kästner Gymnasium Eislingen, Germany: “Unfortunately, the classroom offers only limited opportunities for students to experience scientific work themselves. So when I heard about the International Polar Year, I knew right away that this was an extraordinary occasion for me and my classes. I hope that I will be able to bring back home a lot of experiences and impressions that will inspire students and support their interest in the Arctic. I think that knowledge about an ecosystem is essential for appreciating it.”

Mieke Eggermont teaches biology in the Royal Atheneum III of Ghent in Belgium:“Pupils are very interested in oceans and seas but know almost nothing about it. By joining this expedition I want to experience what oceanographic research is like, learn more about the deep sea ecosystem, the Artic region and to include this in future ready-to-teach packages. I want to saturate the lectures with visual information and try to transfer some of my own enthusiasm to them. For the pupils of the school I'm teaching in (and of course everybody else that is interested) I will create an online diary of the experiences on board.”

For more information on the outreach activities from this cruise, go to www.edu-hermes.org/polarstern

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Top: The four pupils participating in the cruise under the HERMES outreach programme onboard the RV Polarstern, posing next to the submersible JAGO. Above: Pupils retrieving the coral samples collected by Prof. Laurenz Thomsen (in blue jacket) during his submersible dive. Images courtesy N.Hanelt/Jacobs University Bremen.

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RV RV AegaeoAegaeo discovers new coral province on the discovers new coral province on the south Cretan marginsouth Cretan margin

A two-week cruise aboard HCMR’s RV Aegaeo took place in late June - early July 2007 in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, in the frame of the Greek-American ‘DANAOS’ project, a collaboration between the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR, Greece), the Institute of Nautical Archaeology of Texas A&M University (INA, USA) and the Hellenic Institute of Ancient and Medieval Alexandrian Studies (HIAMAS, Greece).

The cruise aimed at discovering Minoan (Bronze Age) shipwrecks on the ancient trade route between Crete and Alexandria, an idea of Prof. Shelley Wachsmann, leader of the INA team. The first 3 days of the cruise were devoted to a swath bathymetric survey of a 1700 km2 area south and southwest of Ierapetra, eastern Crete. The survey revealed the presence of a structural high, formed between Ptolemy and Pliny Trenches, with its summit at 450 m water depth. The shallower part of this submarine mountain, delineated by the 750m depth contour, was chosen for the search for Bronze Age shipwrecks.

Instrumentation of the survey incorporated (a) sidescan sonar (GeoAcoustics Ltd.), with 1800m long tow-cable; (b) a 4-transducer 3.5 kHz subbottom profiler; (c) the Thetis - a 2-man submersible (COMEX), rated for 610m depth, and (d) the Max Rover ROV (DSSI), rated for 2000m depth.

The survey was conducted along E-W oriented track lines at 300 m spacing, using 100kHz frequency sidescan sonar, 250msecs shooting rate and 380m total swath (190m per channel). The towfish of the sonar ‘flew’ at about 25-30m height above the seafloor at a constant speed of 2-2.2 knots. These settings were selected as the most suitable for searching for remains of ancient ships on the seafloor.

Subbottom profiling took place with a surface-towed, 3.5kHz system, in parallel with the sidescan sonar survey at shooting rate of 1sec. Achieved penetration ranged between 0 and >10 m, depending on the occurrence of the hard substrate on the seafloor. The use of the subbottom profiler provided information on the sub-seafloor structure and contributed in discarding the sonar targets originating from the occurrence of basement outcrops on the seabed. A total length of >250km of track lines were surveyed and >70km2 of seafloor were scanned during the second, 10-day long part of the cruise, at a mean speed of 2 knots. The geophysical survey was conducted during the night, while ROV and submersible dives took place during daylight hours.

The DANAOS-2007 survey area South of Crete Island, Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Right: The 2-man submersible Thetis, rated for 610m depth.

Below: The ROV Max Rover rated for 2000m depth.

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Cruise newsIssue 9 Page 14

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More than 150 targets were identified on the basis of sonar data, of which only 15 (10%) were evaluated to be of possible archaeological origin. Nine dives took place at depths between 500-650m and 14 sonar targets were visually investigated. All targets proved to be of geological origin, with the majority of them comprising hard crust, formed in situ on the seafloor. Although we were not able to sample the crusts, we suspect that they are associated with local cold seeps. The presence of numerous pockmarks of several meters in diameter - one of them with evidence of active seeping - supports this assumption.

outcrops and seeps the wreckfish Polyprion americanus were seen feeding (possibly on the smaller shortnose greeneye, Chlorophthalmus agassizi), along with the black-spot bream, Pagellus bogaraveo.

In summary, the DANAOS-2007 cruise revealed the presence of live corals at depths between 520-620m south of Crete Island. These outcrops may constitute the southernmost occurrence of deep-water corals in the Mediterranean Sea at latitudes beyond the expected range. The deep-water corals were discovered accidentally during a high-resolution sidescan sonar survey of the seafloor for ancient wrecks. Results show that the methodology used for the archaeological survey may be very effective in the search for deep-water coral occurrences in similar environments to that of the survey area.

Thanks to the skill of HCMR’s ROV and submersible pilots we were able to sample the corals and get spectacular videos from the seafloor. These data will be available and used for the HERMES project and will form the basis for the design of a new cruise devoted to the systematic search for deep corals south of Crete Island.

Most of the observed crust pieces had very large numbers of shrimp (Plesionika sp.) on the crust or in very close vicinity. They also served as a substrate for the short, thick yellow coral Dendrophyllia cornigera. The coral was observed in at least 5-6 different sites in the survey area at depths between 520-620m, forming small colonies often with associated rubble from old coral growth. In one area of base rock, two other coral types were seen but remain unidentified. One, a white irregular thin branching coral standing approximately 1m above the substrate, resembled Lophelia but was less dense in its branches. The other was similar but shorter and red in colour. Fish were scarce, but on larger

Above: Side scan sonar record and sonar target visually investigated and proved to have originated from hard crust pieces, lying on the muddy seafloor. The 3.5kHz subbottom profile shows a continuous sedimentary sequence at least 7 m thick.

BA

C D

E F

Wreckfish under unidentif ied coral (Video capture)

Fig. 13: Shrimp mass on the edge of a pockmark (Video captu re)

(continued from previous page)Cretan coralsCretan corals

Left: Still images from ROV video footage: A) Wreckfish under unidentified coral; B) Shrimp mass on the edge of a pockmark; C to F) Crust development on the seafloor and occurrence of the yellow coral Dendrophyllia cornigera, sometimes associated with coral rubble (F).

Right: Dendrophyllia cornigera sampled at 580 m depth.

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Cold-water coral carbonate mounds are widespread along the Irish continental margin where they occur as distinct clusters in water depths down to 1,000 m. Whereas the Porcupine Seabight and Rockall Trough are relatively well studied with regard to mound topography, coral coverage, and benthic life diversity, the situation on the western Rockall Bank is relatively unknown.

In 2004, HERMES partners IFM-GEOMAR (Kiel, Germany) and MARUM (Bremen, Germany) organised a cruise with the German RV Meteor aiming to discover and survey new mound structures on Rockall Bank. The cruise was designed as a preparatory study for HERMES and contributed to WP2 Cold-Water Coral Ecosystems and Carbonate Mounds.

The cold-water coral-covered Franken Mound constitutes the first and only carbonate mound on the western Rockall Bank which has been systematically surveyed by a camera sledge and the remotely operated vehicle Quest 4000m (MARUM, Bremen).

Hardgrounds are the most common feature within the facies distribution on the Franken Mound forming massive current-exposed escarpments at the steeply inclined western flank and small-scale ridges at the smoothly dipping eastern flank. Partly rippled and/or bioturbated soft sediments are restricted to the lower flanks.

A variety of biocoenoses are associated with these facies comprising discrete live coral colonies (dominated by octocorals and antipatharians), dense live and dead coral framework coverage (dominated by Lophelia pertusa), coral debris, and a soft sediment faunal community. In total, 76 faunal species were identified belonging to nine major groups in which the most dominant are Porifera, Cnidaria, Arthropoda, Echinodermata and fish.

The geological and biological features of the Franken Mound show a distinct distribution across the mound pointing to a strong relationship to the local current regime. Strong currents which enhance the supply of food to the filter-feeding cold-water corals and which avoid them from burial seem to be restricted to the summit region (620-645 m water depth).

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Franken Mound: a newly-discovered carbonate mound on the western Rockall Bank

Schematic W-E cross-section of the Franken Mound showing its prominent asymmetry and the distribution of facies, live corals, coral debris and dropstones.

The German RV Meteor (left) and the MARUM ROV QUEST 4000m (right).

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Franken Mound

Below - Characteristic features of the Franken Mound: A-B) Discrete cold-water coral colonies; C) Hardground cliffs, and D) Dense coral coverage at the top.

The current regime on the eastern flank appears to be highly variable, as indicated by mobile rippled sediment, exhumed dropstones and outcropping hardground ridges occurring in small-scale alternating sequences. The exposed hardground cliffs on the western side are affected by very strong currents.

As the flanks of the Franken Mound are already largely buried by sediments and dead coral framework prevails over living corals at its summit, it is assumed that the Franken Mound is at present in a state of 'mound retirement'. The high abundance of dead coral framework also indicates that the mound has known more prolific times in the past. Due to the massive hardground cliffs composed of lithified carbonates, it cannot be excluded that the Franken Mound has already undergone several phases of enhanced and reduced mound development.

A detailed facies and biocoenoses characterisation of Franken Mound will be published soon in Facies:

Wienberg, C., Beuck, L., Heidkamp, S., Hebbeln, D., Freiwald, A., Pfannkuche, O. and Monteys, X. (in press): Franken Mound – facies and biocoenoses mapping on a newly-discovered 'carbonate mound' on the western Rockall Bank, NE Atlantic.

In August 2007 Murray Roberts (Scottish Association for Marine Science) and Steve Ross (University of North Carolina at Wilmington) begin a two year project to develop a Trans-Atlantic Coral Ecosystem Study. Funding from the EC Outgoing International Fellowship scheme allows Murray to move to the USA for 16 months to work with Steve on this new initiative.

They plan to hold an initial science meeting in February 2008 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference in Boston, and follow this with a European science meeting during the next HERMES conference in Faro (March 2008). Details of these meetings will follow but keep a note in your diary for the time being.

To be added to the TRACES mailing list please contact Murray Roberts at:murray.roberts@sams.ac.ukRight: The Johnson Sea Link manned submersible launching to study Lophelia reefs on the Florida-Hatteras shelf.

TRACES: Trans-Atlantic Coral Ecosystem Study

The ESF-funded project CARBONATE will officially start in July 2007 as part of the EUROCORES-EuroMARC programme. CARBONATE will mobilise the MeBo remotely operated drilling platform to drill a number of cold-water coral mounds collecting complete sequences down to 85m below seabed. The focus of the project is to study cold-water coral mound initiation, development, geochemical processes and carbonate budgets in differing environmental mound settings. Probable drill targets include the Magellan Mounds, Pelagia Mounds, Logachev Mounds, the Franken Mound on the Irish margin and Hatton Bank Mounds on the U.K. margin. Pre-site surveys will take place in October 2007 on the RV Pelagia with drilling scheduled for August 2008 on the

RV Celtic Explorer. The project includes various HERMES partners (Dr Andy Wheeler, UCC (coordinator); Prof. Andre Freiwald, UERL; Prof. Dierk Hebbeln, MARUM; Prof. Tjeerd Van Weering, NIOZ) with associated input from the British Geology Survey and RCMG, Uni. Gent, Belgium.Left: the MeBo remotely operated drilling platform

CARBONATE: new cold-water coral carbonate mound drilling project

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Policy updateIssue 9 Page 17

Report from the EurOceans meeting in Aberdeen, 22 June 2007

The declaration was adopted at the EurOCEANS 2007 Conference held in Aberdeen on 22 June 2007. This event focused on the marine science aspects in support of the development of the European Maritime Policy. It was attended by some 200 representatives of the international marine and maritime science and technology community, policy makers, representatives of non-Government organisations and other key stakeholders. The Aberdeen Declaration was prepared by building on inputs from a wide range of scientific organisations, and refined and finalised during the Conference. It calls for the development of a coordinated approach to marine science across Europe, through the implementation of a comprehensive and integrated European Marine and Maritime Science, Research, Technology and Innovation Strategy.

In his opening address to the Conference, the European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, Joe Borg, stressed that ‘sea-related human activities and climate change are combining to pose severe threats to marine ecosystems’ and that ‘these ecosystems and the marine environment have been significantly affected by land and sea based human activities over the last decades’. He highlighted the contribution of maritime transport, coastal tourism, fisheries, aquaculture, seabed exploitation, and sea-based renewable and conventional energy to our wealth and welfare, but also stressed their growing impact on seas and oceans ‘to the point that the very balance of the oceanic system is being seriously affected’, and pointed to the need to address the cumulative impact of our activities on the oceans and seas. Commissioner Borg also addressed the challenge of climate change relating to the oceans and the potential major changes in marine ecosystem functions, species' ecological interactions and geographical ranges.

During the conference, HERMES partner Sybille van den Hove used the case of (and pictures from) HERMES to illustrate her plenary presentation on ‘Interfaces between Science, Policy and Society’. The level of interest and enthusiasm raised by HERMES amongst participants was extremely high.

In June, HERMES also prepared a specific contribution to the consultation on the Green Paper, which was sent to the Head of the Maritime Policy Task Force of the European Commission. In this contribution, the HERMES community stresses a series of key elements which justify and call for the continuation and intensification of the European deep-sea research effort in support of a holistic European maritime policy. The full text of the HERMES contribution is available from the consultation website (see reference points below).

By the end of 2007 the European Commission will address a Communication to the Council and Parliament, summarising the results of the consultation process and proposing the way forward.

Scientific community inputs to the Consultation on a Future European Maritime Policy

Scientific community inputs to the Consultation on a Future European Maritime Policy

The month of June 2007 marked the end of the European Commission's consultation on the Green Paper on a Future Maritime Policy for the European Union. The scientific community has significantly contributed to the consultation, notably through the Aberdeen Declaration.

Resources and reference points:Aberdeen Declaration text can be downloaded from: http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/declaration_en.htmlCommissioner Borg’s speech can be viewed at http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/speeches/speech220607_en.html The full text of the HERMES (#350) and Marbef (#301) contributions to the Green Paper can be found at:http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/post_green_en.html

Sybille Van den Hove (left) and Commissioner Joe Borg (below) giving presentations to the EurOCEANS delegates in Aberdeen. Images courtesy Maud Evrard/ Marine Board-ESF.

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The Integrated Project SESAME, launched in November 2006, is a 4-year project funded by the EC’s FP6. It is designed to study the past, present and future environmental changes in the Mediterranean and Black Sea ecosystems, and how these affect their abilities to provide goods and services with fundamental societal importance, such as tourism, fisheries, mitigation of climate through carbon sequestration and ecosystem stability through conservation of biodiversity.

By assessing the changes that have occurred in the Mediterranean and Black Sea over the last 50 years, while simultaneously predicting changes in their ability to sustain essential ecosystem functions in the next 50 years, SESAME will involve and assist the relevant stakeholders towards implementing sustainable management policies under the current climate change debate.

The project approaches the two seas as a coupled climatic ecosystem entity for the first time, and its innovation lies in the large-scale merging of economic and natural sciences. SESAME takes advantage of past efforts made in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, and over its implementation period, existing information, model simulations and scenarios will be integrated under several work packages. Process-oriented predictive dynamic models will be upgraded and/or developed to embrace the broad spectrum of physical and ecological features and processes that characterise the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and will be calibrated against past and present data, collected and assessed under SESAME's activities. Using the models, the combined effects of natural and anthropogenic pressures on the ecosystem will be predicted and indices/indicators for ecosystem changes connected to societal scenarios and needs will be developed.

Exploring the Mediterranean and the Black SeaDuring SESAME's lifespan, ten oceanographic research vessels will simultaneously conduct multinational cruises across the entire Mediterranean and Black Sea basins (see coloured map lines for transects). The cruises are planned for March-April 2008 and for August-September 2008. Data collection for model definition and validation will also be conducted in seven sub-regional areas (see shaded rectangles on map). The collected high quality in situ data will be used to tune and validate the basin-scale and sub-regional models and feed the SESAME databases.

SESAME's multidisciplinary approach will bring together natural scientists and socio-economists. The semi-quantitative fields of economics and social sciences will be fully addressed over five study areas (see map key). Studying these areas will explore the possibility of transferring and/or adapting state-of-the-art analytical and policy tools to investigating the economic welfare implications of alternative development scenarios in the Mediterranean and Black Sea ecosystems. A sound methodological approach for integrating scientific modelling and socio-economic analysis will also be developed.

SESAME's information platformSESAME will promote a knowledge conveyor belt within the Mediterranean and Black Sea through various opportunities, such as summer schools, and professional training schemes in the form of workshops and lab/field training. Its ambition is to create a comprehensive platform for training, education and outreach, encompassing all levels of society, while encouraging multidisciplinary collaborations, both within as well as outside the EU. It will also stimulate the involvement of schools in research activities. More specifically, a number of schools will be offered the opportunity to experience life on-board the research vessels via an Internet connection, while the SESAME cruises are in progress. In addition, the project's website will act as a channel for further education of pupils, students and young researchers through specific interactive sections. The project will disseminate the scientific knowledge gained from its activities appropriately to all levels of society encompassing the scientific community, decision makers and stakeholders and the general public.

Project management and coordinationThe SESAME Consortium comprises 47 partners from 62 institutes and is coordinated by Dr Evangelos Papathanassiou at HCMR.

For further information on the SESAME project, please contact the project coordinator at:

The Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR)P.O. Box 712 , Anavyssos 19013, GreeceTel.: +30 22910 76 381 Fax: +30 22910 76 347http://www.hcmr.gre-mail: vpapath@ath.hcmr.gr

or visit the project website at:http://www.sesame-ip.eu/

The SESAME project:Southern European Seas: Assessing and Modelling Ecosystem Changes

Above: Map showing the SESAME study sites

AugustAddressing Geologic Hazards through Ocean DrillingPortland, USA, 26-30 August 2007This IODP workshop and is designed to establish the current state of community knowledge and activity in the area of submarine geologic hazards, and to address a series of focused questions. For more information see http://www.iodp.org/geohazards.

42nd European Marine Biology SymposiumKiel, Germany, 27-31 August 2007This conference will focus on the themes of Global Change and Complex Interactions Full details can be founsd on the conference website at http://www.embs42.de.

SeptemberGeoItalia 2007Rimini, Italy, 14-14 September 2007This year’s congress theme is ‘Geoscience and Society in Italy in the International Year of Planet Earth, 2008’. Programme includes several HERMES-relevant sessions. For more details see www.geoitalia.org.

European Symposium on Marine Protected AreasMurcia, Spain, 25-28 September 2007The MPA symposium will present and discuss the results from ongoing European and international MPA research, aiming to contribute to the development of a range of new tools required to design, implement, monitor and evaluate the effects of different types of MPAs. See more details at www.mpasymposium2007.eu.

OctoberSubmarine Mass Movements and their ConsequencesSantonirini, 1-3 October 2007This symposium will review the state of the art in risk evaluation from submarine landslides, deposit characterisation and its implication for coastal and offshore development. Further details are on the conference website www.ncmr.gr/submarinemove2007.

HERMES Month 30 management meetings10-11 October 2007The Month 30 meetings of the HERMES SMB and PSC wil ltake place on 10-11 October respectively. Venue to be confirmed in due course.

HERMES calendar

The next issue of the HERMES newsletter will be published in early November 2007. To submit articles, please email your contributions to Vikki Gunn (vkg@noc.soton.ac.uk) by 19 October 2007.

Next issue...

Noticeboard

The HERMES project is funded by the European Commission's Framework Six Programme, under the priority Sustainable Development, Global Change and Ecosystems, Contract No. GOCE-CT-2005-511234-1. For further information, please visit the project website at www.eu-hermes.net

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HERMES cold seep research to be presented at GeoItalia 2007A thematic session on ‘Cold seep structures and processes in the Mediterranean region’ is to take place at GeoItalia 2007, the sixth forum of the Italian Earth Science Federation (FIST), to be held in Rimini on 12-14 September. The thematic session on 13 September is convened by Roberto Barbieri (University of Bologna) and HERMES partners Silva Ceramicola (OGS Trieste) and Jean-Paul Foucher (IFREMER). Presentations and posters will include results from cold seeps in the eastern Mediterranean Sea obtained during HERMES campaigns such as the Meteor M70 cruise and the HERMES-HYDRAMED IONIO campaign to the Calabrian Arc. These will be accompanied by contributions on modern and fossil mud volcanoes studied in terrestrial sites, including Italy.

HERMES Annual Meeting 2008The 2008 HERMES Annual Meeting will take place on 31 March - 4 April 2008. By popular demand, we will be returning to the same venue as last year, just outisde Faro. More details will appear on the HERMES website in due course.

Ideas for the next WP10 student workshop?As a follow-up to suggestions put forth at the 2007 HERMES Annual Meeting, the WP10 team invite HERMES students to organise their own training workshop for next year. The 3rd HERMES Training Workshop is scheduled to be held just before the next HERMES Annual Meeting at the end of March 2008. There is a small budget available to support the students’ workshop. Anyone with ideas, suggestions or offers to organise the workshop should contact Nora Hanelt at n.hanelt@iu-bremen.de.

GeoHab 2008 first announcementNext year’s GeoHab meeting will take place 29 April – 2 May 2008 in Sitka, Alaska. The meeting is hosted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and sponsored by the Global Undersea Research Unit of the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. The theme of GeoHab 2008 is: Deep-sea Marine Benthic Habitats and High-seas Marine Protected Areas. For more information, visit http://www.geohab.org