Forthcoming departure of the Japanese cruise in the East China Sea

The Japanese RV Hakuho-Maru will leave Tokyo on October 14, 2015 in order to undertake a biogeochemical study in the East China Sea (KH-15-3 cruise, GEOTRACES Process Study). The cruise will return to Nagasaki on November 2. This cruise will be carried out collaboratively with the Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology, the Ocean University of China, Xiamen University (China), Taiwan Academia Sinica and Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, 34 scientists will participate in this cruise. The objectives of this cruise are: (1) Quantify the distribution of trace elements and isotopes in the East China Sea and their fluxes to the western North Pacific, (2) Understand the biogeochemical/physical processes, spatial and temporal variations and cycles of nutrients in the East China Sea, and (3) Reveal long-term biogeochemical changes in the East China Sea/Kuroshio area.

Figure: Japanese KH-15-3 cruise track in the East China Sea. Click here to view it larger.

Chief Scientist: Jing Zhang (Toyama University, Japan)

GEOTRACES Scientists: Hajime Obata, Yoshiki Sohrin, Shigenobu Takeda, Keiji Horikawa, Yu Umezawa, Kuanbo Zhou, Tung-Yuan Ho, Minhan Dai.