TAlPro2022 CRUISE REPORT R/V BELGICA Cruise n. 2022/12

The TAlPro2022 cruise has been conducted on the RV BELGICA from 17th to 26th May 2022, thanks to ship time offered through the Eurofleets+ project. In addition, the Mediterranean Science Commission (CIESM) has further provided financial support to cover the participation of the PI and those partners affiliated to institutes of countries that are full CIESM members, as well as to contribute to a future scientific publication. RV BELGICA is the new 71-metres-long Belgian research vessel.

The last few decades have seen dramatic changes in the hydrography and biogeochemistry of the Mediterranean Sea. The complex bathymetry, the highly variable spatial and temporal scales of atmospheric forcing and internal processes contribute to generate complex and unsteady circulation patterns and significant variability in biogeochemical systems. Part of this variability can be influenced by anthropogenic contributions. Consequently, there is a need to document its details as well as to understand ongoing trends in order to better relate the observed processes and to possibly predict the consequences of these changes. The main goal of the cruise was to contribute to the understanding of long-term changes and trends in physical and biogeochemical parameters, such as the anthropogenic carbon uptake and to still evaluate the hydrographical situation after the major climatological shifts in the western part of the basin, known as the Western Mediterranean Transition.
During the cruise, multidisciplinary measurements were conducted on 2 meridional sections between the northern and the southern Mediterranean shores, contributing to the global repeat hydrography program GO-SHIP and adhering to the GO-SHIP requirements.