Indian Ocean

Section map

The GEOTRACES Scientific Steering Committee discussed and proposed these cruise tracks in October 2007 at the Indian Ocean Planning Workshop held in Goa, India. More information about each cruise is available — please click on the map labels below. Yellow lines indicate completed cruises, black lines indicate International Polar Year cruises, and red lines indicate planned cruises.

Indian Ocean GEOTRACES cruise sections ©

Cruise details

Section	Country	Cruise Dates (completed cruises/ approved future cruises)	Information
GI01	India	24-03-2014 — 24-04-2014	Cruise SK311 sailed on 24 March 2014 from Chennai, India and docked at Port Louis, Mauritius on 24 April 2014. The aim of the cruise was to determine the sources and internal cycling of trace elements and isotopes in the Indian Ocean. The full range of GEOTRACES parameters were sampled in the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Contact Dr Sunil Kumar Singh for more details or consult the GEOTRACES post-cruise metadata form.
GI02	India	27-04-2014 — 30-05-2014	Cruise SK312 sailed on 27 April 2014 from Mauritius and docked in Goa, India on 30 May 2014. The full range of GEOTRACES parameters were sampled in the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. Contact Dr Sunil Kumar Singh for more details or access further information from the GEOTRACES post-cruise metadata form.
GI03	India	30-01-2013 — 30-03-2013	Indian cruise SK304 mobilised on 03 March 2013 from Goa, India, on the Sagar Kanya, with Dr Sunil Kumar Singh as the Chief Scientist. The cruise ended in Chennai, India on 11 May 2013. Samples were collected in the Arabian Sea, the Eastern Indian Ocean, the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. For further details sampled on this cruise please see the GEOTRACES post-cruise metadata form.
GI04	Japan	06-11-2009 — 10-01-2010	Cruise KH-09-5 legs 1, 2 and 3 sailed in November 2009 on the Japanese ship RV Hakuho Maru. The cruise aimed at precise and detailed measurements of trace elements and isotopes in the Indian Ocean. Atmosphere and bottom sediment samples were collected to help identify processes and fluxes that control the distribution of trace elements in water columns, and to elucidate their important linkage with global climatic change. Please consult the preliminary cruise report for further information or contact Dr Toshitaka Gamo (Chief Scientist and GEOTRACES Scientist). For further details on parameters sampled on the cruise and other relevant metadata please see the GEOTRACES pre-cruise metadata form.
GI05	India	2016-09-22 — 2016-10-22	Indian cruise SK324 mobilised on 22.09.2015 to 21.10.2015 from Goa, India, to Port Luis, Mauritius, on the Sagar Kanya, with Dr Sunil Kumar Singh as the Chief Scientist. For further details sampled on this cruise please see the GEOTRACES post-cruise metadata form.
GI06	India	2017‑01‑28 — 2017‑03‑03	Cruise SK338 track includes stations across a range of contrasting regions in the Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. More information can be found in the SK338 cruise report.
GI07	Germany	Postponed at least until the end of 2022	Details of the German South Indian Ocean GEOTRACES cruise can be found in the following cruise proposal. Dr Eric Achterberg and Dr Martin Frank will be the Co-Chief Scientists. All information is prelimary as the cruise is still to take place and will be updated closer to the time of the cruise. If further information is required please contact Dr Eric Achterberg or Dr Martin Frank.
GI08	Still to be decided	Still to be decided	India to Antarctica.
GIPY02	Australia	17-01-2007 — 20-02-2007	SAZ-SENSE is a study of the sensitivity of Sub-Antarctic Zone waters to global change. A 32-day oceanographic voyage onboard Australia’s ice-breaker, Aurora Australis, was undertaken in mid-summer 17 January - 20 February 2007 to examine biogeochemical processes in SAZ waters west and east of Tasmania, and also in the Polar Frontal Zone south of the SAZ with Dr Brian Griffiths as the Chief Scientist and Dr Andrew Bowie as the GEOTRACES Scientist. The strategy was to compare low productivity waters west of Tasmania (areas with little phytoplankton) with higher productivity waters to the east, with a focus on the role of iron as a limiting micro-nutrient. This cruise was part of the GEOTRACES IPY programme. See GEOTRACES post-cruise metadata form for more information on the parameters sampled.
GIPY03	Australia	03-09-2007 — 17-10-2007	The Sea Ice Physics and Ecosystem eXperiment (SIPEX) is one of Australia's major contributions to the International Polar Year (IPY). The expedition explored the sea ice zone around Antarctica from September to October 2007 and investigated the relationships between the physical sea ice environment and the structure of Southern Ocean ecosystems. The Chief Scientist on board was Dr Anthony Worby and the GEOTRACES Scientist Dr Andrew Bowie. Please see the cruise report and GEOTRACES post-cruise metadata form for more information.
GIPY04	France	08-02-2008 — 24-03-2008	The MD166 Bonus Good Hope cruise sailed in 2008 aboard the Marion Dufresne. This cruise was part of the international IPY programme and GEOTRACES was one of the main projects associated with this cruise. The Chief Scientist on board was Professor Sabrina Speich and the GEOTRACES Scientist Dr Marie Boye. Details can be found in the cruise report and GEOTRACES post-cruise metadata form.
GIPY06	Australia	22-03-2008 — 17-04-2008	Australian-led voyage aboard Aurora Australis, organised by the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, followed the 'SR3' transect approximately 140°E between Tasmania and the coast of Antarctica. This transect has been well characterised oceanographically in the past two decades. The results of this work will yield the first synoptic, circumpolar measurements of micronutrient trace elements in the Southern Ocean. Dissolved iron data along the SR3 transect represent an order of magnitude improvement in sampling resolution and show widespread iron limitation in upper ocean waters along the transect. The Chief Scientist was Dr Stephen Rintoul and the GEOTRACES Scientist Dr Edward Butler. Please see the Voyage Report for further information. For more details on parameters to be sampled and other relevant metadata please see the GEOTRACES post-cruise metadata form.
GS01	Australia	2018-01-11 — 2018-02-21	IN2018_V01 (GS01) cruise took place along 140°E (the SR3 line) from 11 January 2018, 21 February 2018 (starting from Hobart) . Dr Andrew Bowie was the GEOTRACES Scientist. For further details sampled on this cruise please see the GEOTRACES post-cruise metadata form
GS02	France	2021-01-10 — 2021-03-08	SWINGS (South West Indian Geotraces Section) is a project co-lead by Dr Jeandel Catherine and Dr Planquette Helen. SWINGS cruise is expected on the RV Marion-Dufresne leaving from Durban (ZA) on January 10th, 2021 and arriving to La Réunion (Fr) on March 8th, 2021. More information on the cruise and the addressed scientific questions can be found in SWING project summary document.
GS03	Australia	Still to be decided	Perth to Kerguelen following WOCE I05 line west of Australia.
GS04	Still to be decided	Still to be decided	This section was proposed during the Indian Ocean Geotraces workshop. This cruise was completed as a process study.
GS05	Germany	Still to be decided	Dr Katharina Pahnke will be the Chief Scientist on this South East Indian Ocean cruise. The objectives of this cruise are to source trace elements and isotopes (TEI's) from Antarctica and around Australia, TEI signatures of major water masses and TEI distrubutions across the circum-Antarctic frontal system. Please contact Dr Katharina Pahnke for further information on this cruise. Details will be updated closer to the time of the cruise departure.

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