Temporal and spatial variability in sedimentation in the Black Sea : cruise report R/V Knorr 134-8, Black Sea Leg 1, April 16-May 7, 1988

Abstract

This document represents the cruise report of the highly successful Leg 1 of the R/V Knorr cruise to the Black Sea (Cruise 134-8) as a joint Turkish-American Oceanographic Expedition (Izmir to Istanbul, April 16 to May 7,1988). The focus of Leg 1 was to study the biogeohemical variability in sedimentation in the present and throughout the anoxic history of the Black Sea with high spatial and temporal resolution. In particular, this study involved the integrated study of water column fluxes (sediment traps, suspended sediment investigations, etc.), benthic boundary layer ("fluff layer"), and laminated bottom sediments (box cores, giant gravity cores). Highlights of the cruise include the collection of 62 giant gravity cores, and 30 box cores with perfectly laminated sediment and, for the first time ever, with the intact fluff layer. Three moorings with time-series sediment traps were deployed in the abyssal regions of the eastern, central, and western Black Sea to collect continuous samples over a time period of about 1 year and 3 months. Summarized in the cruise report are logistics of the cruise, sample collections and descriptions, and preliminary discussions of observations and first measurements.