Summary for Field Activity Number 05002

Alternate Leg ID: NURC/UNCW 2005-07B

Area of Operations: Gulf of Mexico, North America, North Atlantic
Madison Swanson Fishery Reserve
West Florida Shelf

Dates: Mar 21, 2005 to Mar 28, 2005

Chief scientist: Kathryn Scanlon
   Christopher Koenig, chief scientist, Florida State University

Objectives: Collect sediment and rock samples from shelf-edge paleoshorelines and video grouper spawning habitat using ROV and mixed-gas SCUBA divers.

Type of Activity: Sampling
Photography
video
ROV
SCUBA diving

Information to be derived: Samples and Chemical Analysis
Age dates

Summary: The ROV was deployed at 19 sites both within the Madison Swanson Fishery Reserve and at unprotected areas outside the reserve. Video data and still photographs were collected at each site. At 4 sites Technical SCUBA divers, using mixed gas, were sent to the seafloor to collect rock samples with chisels and sledges. A total of 22 rock samples (most several inches to a foot in diameter) were collected. They will be analysed for mineralogic composition and if possible dated and environment of deposition determined. The pre-cruise plan had included sediment and rock sampling in the Steamboat Lumps Fishery Reserve, but those goals were not achieved due to time lost to weather and equipment problems (ROV cable was caught in ship's screw and damaged, requiring retermination). Video data will be used by FSU collaborators to assess health of grouper spawning populations. Water samples were taken from inside a solution hole at one site and tested for salinity, which was 37 - 37.5 ppt, the same as the ambient water salinity measured about 10 feet above the seafloor. No water samples were saved. No sediment samples were collected.

USGS Project Number: 5-2921-0FO20 - Project Description

Contact: Kathryn Scanlon (kscanlon@usgs.gov)