News from RV Oceania: Collecting samples in the Arctic contributes to the BioEcoOcean project

Our colleagues Katarzyna Dragańska-Deja and Marta Szczepanek from the Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences (IOPAN) have recently come back from a cruise on RV Oceania in the Arctic. They collected samples in Woodsfjorden, Northwest Svalbard, for research that will contribute to the BioEcoOcean project, in particular the Marine Organic Carbon Atlas Living Lab.

Katarzyna is a member of the IOPAN optics group, which conducted in-situ measurements of primary production using the C14 method, incubating water samples in dark and clear bottles at ten different depth levels. They also made coincident measurements of light dispersion and absorption on particles suspended in seawater, as well as particle concentration, phytoplankton pigments and other parameters.

Marta used a Van Veen grab sampler to collect benthic fauna samples which will be identified later in the lab. This will allow her to assess the condition and diversity of benthic communities in Woodfjorden. During the cruise, she also conducted incubation experiments with natural benthic communities in their environment to estimate respiration rates. These results will be essential for understanding how much organic carbon is being sequestered in the sediment, which is a key factor in assessing the role of benthic ecosystems in the global carbon cycle.

Photo credit: Karol Kuliński and Katarzyna Dragańska-Deja