Primary target areas for the Deep-water Mid-Atlantic Canyons project are in and around the Norfolk, Washington, Accomac and Baltimore canyons. Yellow and pink stars are locations where deep sea corals were previously identified. Green, blue, and red circles are locations of previous submersible dives. Click image for larger view and image credit.
Deep-Water Mid-Atlantic Canyons Exploration 2011
June 4-17, 2011
Steve W. Ross, Ph.D
Research Professor
UNC-W, Center for Marine Science
Sandra Brooke, Ph.D
Director of Coral Conservation
Marine Conservation Institute
Rod Mather, Ph.D
Professor
University of Rhode Island
MISSION INTRO
Click here to view a slideshow of selected images representative for this specific exploration.
The Deep-water Mid-Atlantic Canyons Project represents a major systematic exploration of submarine canyons on the continental margin of the eastern United States. Funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and NOAA Ocean Exploration and Research (OER), our diverse team of scientists will investigate deepwater canyons, hard bottom habitats and shipwrecks off Virginia and Maryland. During the project’s first cruise in June of 2011, scientists and technicians onboard the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster will collect seafloor bathymetry and water column profiles. This cruise is critical for establishing the foundation of information necessary for the planning of multidisciplinary investigations in later years.
You can follow along with expedition scientists at-sea on a website hosted by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences if you click 'here'.
MISSION PLAN
Dozens of deep submarine canyons are perhaps the most striking feature of the continental margin of the eastern United States. Most of these canyons are relatively minor features, but several are incredibly extensive and cut quite deeply into the seafloor. The primary purpose of the multiyear Deep-Water Mid-Atlantic Canyons Project is to discover and characterize the sea-floor communities that live in association with east coast submarine canyons. Our mission will provide essential information on the ecology and biodiversity of these deep-sea communities to regulatory agencies for consideration in advance of any potential future energy development.
Benthic lander designed at UNCW for deploying multiple instruments and experiments to the deep-sea floor. Data collected by these platforms provide measurements of environmental variability that are normally unattainable. Click image for larger view and image credit.
This expedition is part of a new interagency effort involving the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in addition to scientists from numerous universities working through the BOEMRE contractor, Continental Shelf Associates. Scientists and managers will use data and information from this multiyear project to improve knowledge of the type and extent of unique deep-water communities in the mid-Atlantic canyons.
For the first expedition of this multiyear partnership, the NOAA Vessel Nancy Foster departs from Charleston, South Carolina on June 04. The ship will head north to our study sites, which include Norfolk, Washington and Baltimore canyons off Virginia, Maryland and Delaware in water depths from 150-1000 m. The ship will return to Charleston on June 17. This initial cruise is critical for establishing the foundation of information necessary for the planning the multidisciplinary investigations in 2012 and 2013.
Multibeam sonar mapping is the primary activity during this cruise. Maps of the seafloor produced during the cruise will help guide sampling activities during future expeditions when we will use a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to survey habitat and make collections. These sophisticated underwater vehicles are very expensive to use, and having good maps of the seafloor helps us optimize the limited ROV time. Without these maps we would be effectively searching in the dark for small targets over a vast area. Some multibeam maps are already available for our study area , so we will prioritize areas that have not yet been mapped, such as Baltimore Canyon, or those that need better resolution, such as Norfolk Canyon.
Deep submarine canyons are perhaps the most striking feature of the continental margin of the eastern United States. Most of these canyons are relatively minor features, but several are incredibly extensive and cut quite deeply into the seafloor. Click image for larger view and image credit.
High resolution multibeam sonar image of a shipwreck on the continental shelf near Norfolk Canyon. Click image for larger view and image credit.
This is the first cruise of a four year project to study the biology, geology and oceanography of a series of canyons off the middle Atlantic coast of the U.S. Of particular interest are areas of hard substrate that could support deep water coral ecosystems or other unusual habitats, such as methane seeps. Another major component of this study is marine archaeology, primarily searching for historically significant shipwrecks.
