CE0913 Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Kiel North Sea Project Survey

This survey, led by The Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Kiel (IFM-Geomar) in the North Sea, was conducted in July-August 2009 Expedition CE0913 with RV CELTIC EXPLORER was conducted in the frame of the third-party-funded project "Fluid- and Gasseeps in the Southern German North Sea" between the 27th of July and 14th of August, 2009. The mission led into the shallow water zone of the German Bight (off the island of Juist) and subsequently to Tommeliten, a methane-seep field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea The aim of the survey was to detect sites of active fluid and gas seepage in the North Sea, to decipher and map possible migration pathways in the Pleistocene and Holocene deposits, to quantify gas fluxes in the water column related to tides and currents, and to analyze the chemical compositions of emitted fluids and gases, in order to investigate relationship of fluid/gas seepage to subsurface reservoir geochemistry, sediment deposits and migration structures. Conventional echosounder, ADCP, and multi beam techniques are applied to get background information about sea surface morphology (e.g. pockmarks), shallow sediment characteristics and physical oceanography. Conductvity, Temperature and Depth casts was also carried out to profile the water column and to help detect gas seepage. Sediment and porewater studies were also performed during the cruise. The aim of the cruise was to detect sites of active fluid and gas seepage in the North Sea, to decipher and map possible migration pathways in the Pleistocene and Holocene deposits, to quantify gas fluxes in the water column related to tides and currents, and to analyze the chemical compositions of emitted fluids and gases, in order to investigate relationship of fluid/gas seepage to subsurface reservoir geochemistry, sediment deposits and migration structures.