Plattform Platform	Reise-Nr. Cruise-No.	Zeitraum Period	Projekt Project	Arbeitsgebiet Working area
Sonne1	SO234-1	22.06.2014 - 05.07.2014	SPACES	SE Atlantic (Limit 20?W)

Fahrtleiter Chief Scientist	Institut Institute	Auslaufhafen Port of departure	Einlaufhafen Port of return	Stationskarte Station map	Schiffsroute Trackchart
Werner Reinhard	Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR)	Walvis Bay	Durban

Ziel der Reise / Objectives of Cruise:

SO-234/1 was a training and capacity building cruise for students from southern Africa and Germany in the framework of the BMBF-funded SPACES program (Science for the Assessment of Complex Earth System Processes), a cooperative research project initiated by the relevant ministries in Namibia, South Africa, Angola and Germany. Scientifically SO-234/1 continued geological studies of the temporal and geochemical evolution of the Walvis Ridge (Southeast Atlantic) conducted on the precursor SO-233 expedition (www.geomar.de/forschen/expeditionen; www.oceanblogs.org/walvis2) and was broadened by biological studies by the University of Tubingen which aimed to get a better understanding of the adaptations of visual systems in mesopelagic animals to bioluminescence. The working area of SO234/1 comprised several seamounts, such as the Ewing Seamount, and a section of the southeastern margin of the Walvis Ridge. Due to the fair weather conditions and the excellent support from the master and the crew, SO234/1 completed 18 sampling stations within only four working days. Rock sampling has been conducted using chain bag dredges. The seven SO-234/1 dredge hauls recovered in situ rocks from up to 3,500 m water depth, among them fairly fresh lava fragments and volcaniclastic rocks suitable for volcanological, geochemical, and geochronological analyses. Additionally, a TV-grab station has been conducted at Ewing Seamount but the grab failed to return hard rocks. The group of biologists conducted ten trawls at depths between 400 and 1,000 m using a rectangular midwater Tucker Trawl with an opening of 16 square meters. All trawls were successful and brought numerous animals from the junction of the meso- and bathypelagic habitats including, apart from fishes, several cephalopods, crustaceans, deep-sea jellyfish, ctenophors and many salp colonies.

Messungen / Measurements