RRS James Clark Ross Jr17003a Cruise Report
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RRS James Clark Ross JR17003a Cruise Report Larsen-C Benthos Benthic biodiversity under Antarctic ice-shelves – baseline assessment of the seabed exposed by the 2017 calving of the Larsen-C Ice Shelf RRS James Clark Ross JR17003a Cruise Report Benthic biodiversity under Antarctic ice-shelves – baseline assessment of the seabed exposed by the 2017 calving of the Larsen-C Ice Shelf Katrin Linse & the scientists of Larsen-C Benthos British Antarctic Survey Cruise Report Falkland Islands – Eastern Antarctic Peninsula – Prince Gustav Channel – Falkland Islands Report of RRS James Clark Ross cruise JR17003a, February- March 2018 BAS Archive Reference Number: ES*/*/201x/* This report contains initial observations and conclusions. It is not to be cited without the written permission of the Director, British Antarctic Survey. March 2018 2 Contents Summary ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Objectives .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Summary narrative for JR17003a ................................................................................................ 10 Cruise Track ................................................................................................................................ 14 Personnel ......................................................................................................................................... 15 Officers and crew for JR17003a ................................................................................................... 15 Scientific Party ............................................................................................................................ 16 Project Reports ............................................................................................................................... 17 1. Agassiz Trawl (AGT) .............................................................................................................. 17 1.1. Crustacea………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….20 1.2. Holothurians…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 22 1.3. Polychaeta………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 26 1.4. Porifera……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..31 1.5. Foodwebs………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….33 2. Camera-Epibenthic sledge (C-EBS) with DWCS .............................................................. 35 3. Multicorer (MUC) .................................................................................................................... 37 3.1. C-Experiments……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………42 3.2. Meiofauna…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………43 4. Shallow underwater camera system (SUCS) ............................................................ 45 5. Bongo ...................................................................................................................... 56 6. CTD ............................................................................................................................... 58 6.1. Water sampling………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...64 6.2. Vertical profiles of Chlorophyll-a……………………………………………………………………………………….66 7. Underway navigational data .................................................................................... 68 8. Underway Oceanlogger and meterological data .................................................... 70 9. Bathymetry ............................................................................................................... 71 10. Marine mammals and birds .................................................................................... 77 3 11. BBC NHU .............................................................................................................................. 83 12. Outreach report …………………………………………………………………………….87 13. Antarctic & Marine Engineering ......................................................................................... 93 14. Laboratory report.................................................................................................................. 95 15. IT Report ..................................................................................................................................... 96 16. Data management ............................................................................................................... 97 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... 104 Appendices ................................................................................................................................... 105 Appendix 1: Bridge Event Log .................................................................................................... 105 Appendix 2: AGT log…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….121 Appendix 3: Bongo event log……………………………………………………………………………………………….123 Appendix 4: CTD event log………………………………………………………………………………………………….124 Appendix 5: EBS event log……………………………………………………………………………………………..…..126 Appendix 6: MUC event log…………………………………………………………………………………………………128 Appendix 7: SUCS event log………………………………………………………………………………………………..131 Appendix 8 Scientific staff contact list ................................................................................... 175 4 Summary On 12 July 2017, the Larsen-C Ice Shelf calved the largest iceberg originating from the Antarctic Peninsula ever recorded (Fig.1). As A68 moves north, it will leave an area of 5,800 km^2 of seabed newly exposed to open-marine conditions. Much of this area has very likely remained ice-covered for centuries and may have been covered since the last inter-glacial period. The calving of A68 offers a unique and short-lived scientific opportunity to establish a fundamental research programme to address questions around the mobility and colonisation capacity of benthic marine species. Such a programme would address fundamental questions relating to the sustainability of polar continental shelves under climate change, the processes by which benthic populations migrate, the extent to which benthic organisms act as a biological carbon sink, and the degree to which the distribution of marine benthos can be used to interpret past responses to climate change in various systems. To enable us to exploit this rare opportunity, it is essential that assessment of the benthic system is achieved in the 2017/18 austral summer before significant colonisation begins. To date, the research community has not been sufficiently flexible, or able, to exploit opportunities associated with rapidly changing ice shelves in order to answer key scientific questions such as those above. Biodiversity was not studied until respectively 5 and 12 years after the retreats of Larsen-A & B ice shelves, by which time substantial colonisation had already taken place, and so significant questions about the pre-existing ecosystems remain unanswered. Generating a baseline description of biodiversity, benthic community composition and trophic structure at the very earliest opportunity after A68’s calving will allow, for the first time important data to be generated, which will assist in developing a mechanistic understanding of the major processes that lead to colonisation, species’ turnover and energy flow. These will be key to producing predictions of the benthic systems response to future impacts on further ice-shelf collapse. Our governing hypothesis is: H: “Until the calving of the Larsen-C iceberg, A68, the benthic fauna on the seabed beneath ice shelf has likely comprised oligotrophic assemblages resembling deep- sea Weddell Sea assemblages. The calving of A68, and the exposure of the seabed it covered to open-marine and sea-ice conditions will initiate a rapid colonisation by new species that will transform the benthic ecosystem significantly within 3-5 years.” Testing this hypothesis, including through follow up cruises from the international community will allow us to determine the baseline, sequence, rate and degree of colonisation, understand the mechanisms of transport of these benthic species, and the sequence of their colonisation. This will allow us to improve fundamental understanding about the resilience of polar continental shelf ecosystems, improve interpretations of marine sediment records, and support effective ecosystem management regulation. We will deploy trawls, corers, cameras, salinity and depth sensors, and echo-sounders to measure mid-water zooplankton assemblages and map the seabed terrain to: The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) agreed in October 2016 to protect areas newly revealed by ice shelf retreat or collapse, as Special Areas for Scientific Study for a minimum of 10 years, allowing scientific research to proceed in the absence of other human activities such as fishing. The area exposed by the calving of A68 was designated as a Special Area in October 2017 and is the first to benefit from this agreement, thus providing a unique opportunity for the international science community. 5 Objectives • Objective 1: Sample and characterize macro- and mega-faunal biodiversity in the benthic community below A68; Faunal collection and appropriate sample fixation for taxonomic identification, molecular genetic and genomic analyses of phylogeography, evolutionary