Physical and Biogeochemical Studies in the Subtropical and Tropical Atlantic – Cruise No. MSM18/2 – May 11 – June 19, 2011 – Mindelo (Cape Verde Islands) – Mindelo (Cape Verde Islands) (Englisch)

MSM18/2 was a joint effort of the BMBF joint projects NORDATLANTIK and SOPRAN as well as of the Kiel Collaborative Research Centre SFB 754. The research cruise was closely related to MSM18/3. Both legs were planned to cover the onset as well as the height of the equatorial upwelling. The main work during MSM18/2 consisted of the deployment and recovery of several subsurface moorings for the observation of current and oxygen variability in the oxygen minimum zone and near the equator, a glider swarm experiment within the cold tongue of the eastern equatorial Atlantic, and hydrographic CTD/LADCP and microstructure station work. Additionally to standard meteorological measurements, different atmospheric parameters were acquired continuously during the cruise. This work was aimed to observe the physical processes relevant for the evolution of the mixed layer heat and freshwater content during a phase of particularly strong changes of sea surface temperature and salinity. The cruise contributed to the quantification of mean water mass transport pathways and its variability in the shallow and deep tropical Atlantic Ocean.