Photo Photo

    RV Southern Surveyor SS 09 2006
    Flow Topography Inter    actions

    A comparison of nutrient supply processes and biological productivity
    in upwelling and frontal regions of the Lord Howe Ridge.
    Principal Investigators: Jason Middleton, Iain Suthers, Mark Baird and colleagues at UNSW.


    Cold Core Eddies off Eastern Australia Movie (44MB). ABC News as appeared on Weds 11th Oct 2006.


    The Lord Howe Rise and Middleton/Elizabeth Reefs are part of a linear chain of volcanic islands and seamounts, caused by the relative motion of the continental crust over a volcanic hot spot. As a consequence the flanks of the island shelves and seamounts are extremely steep, approaching 45 degrees in some places. The impact of the EAC extension on the region is thus interesting from both a physical and biological perspective.

    The key achievements are best described by reference to the regions of observation. These were the Tasman Front, the Lord Howe Island region, and Middleton Reef. In each case our primary activities were CTD profiling, Bunyip/ADCP surveys (the Bunyip was fitted with an optical particle counter) and net tows. At each site we determined the direction of prevailing currents, and undertook a Bunyip/ADCP survey to determine the general hydrographic structure of the water column and the general structure of current circulation. Based on this data, net tows were then undertaken to determine the biological productivity. In addition a set of CTD stations (with water samples) was undertaken to determine the nutrient, dissolved oxygen and vertical property fields.

    At the time of the Cruise the area was highly complex, with patches of EAC and temperature waters intermixed, and in continuous motion relative to each other. Thus there was no well-defined Tasman Front crossing to the Lord Howe area as we originally envisaged. Currents were however strong enough in the vicinity of topography to generate significant vertical and horizontal flow disturbances over the Taupo Seamount, the Lord Howe and Ball's Pyramid area and Middleton Reef.

    We received significant press coverage for one aspect of the cruise where we studied a cold core eddy that had formed off the coast of NSW. See the ABC footage at the top of this page.

    Participants

    Scientific Personnel
    Ship's Crew
    Jason Middleton UNSW Ian Taylor Master
    Iain Suthers UNSW Samantha Durnian First Mate
    Mark Baird UNSW Brent Middleton Second Mate
    Moninya Roughan UNSW John Morton Chief Engineer
    Philippe Estrade UNSW Dave Jonker First Engineer
    Debbie Cox UNSW Seamus Elder Second Engineer
    Scott Rowe UNSW Russell Williams Boatswain
    Greg Nippard UNSW John Howard IR
    Tom Mullaney UNSW George Cook IR
    Ash Fowler UNSW Gerry O'Doherty IR
    Jason Everett UNSW Vince Wesley IR
    Lindsay Pender CMAR Alan Sessions Chief Cook
    Drew Mills CMAR Terry Reid Second Cook
    Alicia Navidad CMAR Charmayne Aylett Steward
    Karl Forcey CMAR



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    Last Revised: 24 Oct 2006