Cruise period: 20.3.2019 - 4.4.2019
Alkor cruise 520-2 was part of the project ASKAWZ (Acoustic Seafloor Classification of the German EEZ) funded by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) and the Feral Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN). The main goal of the cruise was the full area acoustic mapping of the westernmost part of the German EEZ (so called “duck bill”) by sidescan sonar and the detection of natural and man-made structures (trawl marks) on the seafloor. The full area mapping was achieved by 61 sidescan sonar profiles, covering an area of ca. 640 km². A single-beam echosounder with automatic seafloor classification (QTC 5.5) was run simultaneously to the sidescan sonar. The acoustic backscatter data was “ground truthed” using Shipek grab and Box-corer (Reineck-Type) samples. In addition an underwater video camera was used to gather further seabed information.
Aditionally sidescan data was recorded in the Helgoland-Reef pockmark area. Here 13 lines were surveyed (ca. 10 km²) by sidescan sonar in order to document the development of the pockmark field
