Response of Amazon sedimentation to deforestation, land use and climate variability – Cruise No. MSM20/3 - February 19 - March 11, 2012 - Recife (Brazil) - Bridgetown (Barbados) (English)

The primary goal of expedition MSM20/3 was to gain samples and data to reconstruct the Holocene and Pleistocene climate history of the Amazon River basin and the adjacent ocean. Furthermore, hydroacoustic methods were used to document the bathymetry as well as the distribution and stratification of sediments at the seafloor. Sediment and water column were sampled in three working areas on the shelf and continental slope off Brazil and French Guiana using gravity corer, multi corer, CTD water sampler, in-situ and shipboard pumps. Samples were taken on 25 stations and during transit to document the transport and the composition of modern Amazon sediments. Among other samples we retrieved 15 largely undisturbed sediment cores with length of up to 8.5 m. These climate archives will be used to reconstruct long-term interactions between Amazon precipitation and ocean circulation on decadal to millennial time scales. A seismoacoustic survey over the Amazon submarine delta will allow to investigate its architecture and geological development. The expedition has been carried out in the framework of the research area Ocean and Climate of the DFG Research Center and Cluster of Excellence MARUM.