Scientists on an Argentinian-led expedition onboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too) deployed an array of technologies to collect the most robust data set available about how the major Malvinas ocean current interacts
Scientists on an Argentinian-led expedition onboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too) deployed an array of technologies to collect the most robust data set available about how the major Malvinas ocean current interacts with submarine canyons and influences Argentina’s renowned marine biodiversity. Their goal was to better understand the region’s plankton blooms, the basis of the food web that sustains the Argentinian fishing industry. These plankton blooms are so large that they can be observed from space.
The expedition was led by Dr. Silvia Ines Romero of Argentina’s Servicio de Hidrografia Naval. Her team hypothesized that these submarine canyons serve as conduits between the deep sea and shallower waters – providing essential nutrients that support Argentina’s massive phytoplankton blooms, which, in turn, support thriving marine ecosystems.
Over 27 days in October, they used a glider, 46 sea surface drifters, two seafloor landers, a moored buoy, and additional shipboard technologies to map four submarine canyons and surrounding areas to collect data on how currents interact with the seafloor.
The expedition was Schmidt Ocean Institute’s second in collaboration with Argentinian scientists and within the country’s waters. The team leading the first expedition to the Mar Del Plata submarine canyon observed rich
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