Cruise report of R/V SONNE Cruise 102, Valparaiso - Valparaiso, 9.5. -28.6.95

Abstract

The near coastal upwelling region off Chile and Peru is one of the most productive regions of the world ocean. In cooperation between the University of Bremen and institutes in Chile, Denmark and Sweden the carbon cycle in this, on a global scale, important area will be studied. The aim of this studies is the investigation of the present day cycling of carbon and the reconstruction of paleoenvironmental conditions, focusing on paleoproductivity, through the late Quaternary climatic cycles. Only very little is known so far about the southern part of the Peru/Chile current and about its youngest geological history. Because this is one of the most important high productivity regions of the world ocean, a detailed knowledge about the paleoproductivity is necessary to assess the role of this system throughout the late Quaternary climatic variations. A detailed study of the oceanographic and biologic conditions about the entire width of the Peru/Chile current in combination with surface sediment data will help to understand the present-day sedimentation processes with this region. In addition, this expedition provided the excellent opportunity to repeat the oceanographic measurements done during the SCORPIO cruise 28 years ago. By this repetition, variations in water mass structure and composition and changes as e.g. global warming can be detected. (orig.)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: RO 7630(68) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman