ZONECO12
| Type | Oceanographic cruise |
|---|---|
| Set | This cruise is part of the set ZONECO |
| Ship | Marion Dufresne |
| Ship owner | TAAF |
| Dates | 12/02/2006 - 26/02/2006 |
| Chief scientist(s) | FOUCHER Jean-Paul |
GEO-OCEAN - UMR 6538 Univ. Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, Univ. Bretagne Sud Place Nicolas Copernic 29280 Plouzané |
|
| DOI | 10.17600/6200090 |
| Objective | The ZoNéCo 12 cruise conducted in the New Caledonia and Fairway basins aimed to better understand the thermal regime in Fairway Basin. Its objectives fell under the ZoNéCo and Quaternary Caledonia programs. ZoNéCo objectives were to: - determine the heat flow in Fairway Basin in order to estimate the temperature at the depth of the "atypical" reflector which was interpreted as being a Bottom Simulating Reflector, or BSR. This determination was also to provide the heat flux value on the sea floor, which is a crucial parameter for modeling studies of the basin and of hydrocarbon generation. - and to determine, as for Fairway Basin, the heat flow at a benchmark site in New Caledonia Basin; - sampling and geochemical characterization of interstitial water in the core samples taken in sites that may be affected by fluid seeps. The study aimed to determine the type and origin of the fluids, as well as the geochemical gradients; - and find methane anomalies (CH4) in the water column which could indicate degassing at the seabed on "key" sites of Fairway Basin (deepwater domes). Quaternary Caledonia objectives were: in this IRD-piloted program, to take a (Calypso-type) core sample off New Caledonia in order to: - obtain a continuous curve, for the first time in this part of the Pacific, of climate variations in the last interglacial periods (up to 1 million years?) - reconstitute the sea surface paleotemperatures established using foraminifera; - confirm or invalidate, by correlation with the date obtained in island and continental drilling on the barrier reefs and in the Coral Sea, the hypothesis of continuous warming of temperatures over the past million years that were the origin of reef-type barriers being created and developed. |
