Schedule

  • Leg - I (15th March – 1st April)

    • Mission
      Collection of biological and oceanographic data to study Red Sea hydrography and microbial diversity
    • Sampling locations
      10 perpendicular transects along the Saudi coast of the Red Sea

  • Leg - II (6th – 17th April)

    • Mission
      Collection of water and plankton samples from different depth layers to study brine pool biota
    • Sampling locations
      Brine pool systems: Atlantis II Deep (AIID) and Discovery Deep (DD)

  • Leg - III (20th – 29th April)

    • Mission
      Collection of sediment and benthos samples to study brine pool biota and geology
    • Sampling locations
      1 transect from Jeddah to AIID, 2 transects at AIID and 1 at DD
Activity Duration

March 01 – 07
Voyage of R/V Aegaeo from Athens to KAUST

 7
March 08 - 09
Cruise workshop 		2
March 09 – 14
Loading & unloading		 5
March 15 – April 01
Leg 1– Red Sea hydrography
& bacterial diversity 		18
April 02 – 05
Loading & unloading		 4
April 06 – 17
Leg 2– Brine pool water
column sampling		 12
April 18 – 19
Loading & unloading		 2
April 20 – 29
Leg 3– Brine pool sediment sampling		 9
April 30
Loading & unloading		 1
May 01 - 07
Return of R/V Aegaeo from KAUST to Athens		 7
Total 67

KAUST Red Sea Expedition - Spring 2010

While the economic and environmental importance of the Red Sea has long been recognized, our knowledge of its hydrography, microbial diversity and physicochemical properties remains inadequate. In March 2010, KAUST, together with its Global Collaborative Partners, launched its second major marine research expedition, KAUST Red Sea Expedition Spring 2010. Following up on the discoveries of KAUST Expedition Fall 2008, the expedition aims at investigating fundamental aspects of the oceanography and deep-sea environment of the Red Sea. The cruise has been subdivided into three “legs”, each following specific research goals.

Ship's Log

April 13- 2010

Summary
Weather Conditions: Force 3, sunny
Wind Speed: NW 6 Knots
Wave Height: 3-4m
R/W Aegaeo

R/W Aegaeo

The final day of sampling and we encounter problems with the weather and the equipment. We got in a few casts before the weather got so bad the Captain once again halted casts. But we did notice that the lanyards, as a result of the constant exposure to heat in the brines, began to warp. So any that looked iffy were replaced with brand new ones.

After 4 hours waiting it was deemed that we could try once more. The wave action, however, had reduced some of the slack in the wire causing 18 of the 24 bottles to misfire. So once back onboard we set everything up once more for a final cast and slowly lowered the package into the water.

Although it was taxing, we ended the sampling on a fully successful cast that hit the mark and all bottles fired properly. On such a positive note we set course for KAUST Harbor to arrive about midday on the 14th.

Interesting Fact: Onboard the vessel we not only had English, Arabic and Greek being spoken at all times but we also had the occasional conversations in German, Portuguese, Spanish and Cantonese.

April 12 - 2010

Summary
Weather Conditions: Force 2, sunny
Wind Speed:
Wave Height: 2 meter
Dr. Andre Antunes' (KAUST RSSE) 5um pre-filter coated in metalic minerals after filtering liters of Atlantic II brine water.

Dr. Andre Antunes' (KAUST RSSE) 5um pre-filter coated in metalic minerals after filtering liters of Atlantic II brine water.

Things are going well. The scientists from each organization have specified precisely what temperature and salinity ranges they desire samples from and as a result of the data obtained via the HRCTD and Star Oddi tags we have been succeeding with each cast. ... read more