SACO-10W-11S

SACO-10W-11S will be a cruise dedicated to maintain the PIES of the SAGA array, deploy another one at 14.5ºS and to carry out a hydrographic cruise at 10W and 11S. Initially, the SAGA array, which consisted of 3 moorings and 4 PIES, was deployed in April 2021. The instruments in the moorings have autonomy for 2 years, so they were recovered in April 2023 in a programmed cruise with the R/V Hespérides. In contrast, the PIES has an autonomy of up to five years and they will be providing data for another two years. Hence, we plan to maintain them in April 2025 with the SACO-10W-11S cruise. In addition, this 2025 cruise will carry out a full hydrographic section at 10ºW and 11ºS. It will sample the water masses in the middle of the subtropical South Atlantic region and western boundary where the deep flow separates in the western and eastern components as well as the connections between the South Atlantic subtropical and tropical gyres.

GO-BGC joins this cruise to deploy 6 GO-BGC floats and 5 Core Argo floats. In addition to the water samples for nutrients and dissolved oxygen already planned by the science team, our ship rider will collect pH/alkalinity, POC, and HPLC samples for analysis back in the U.S.

Please join along on the journey by following the expedition blog!