Periodic Report

University of Heidelberg

Polarstern and Meteor Unit

Douala City

May 7, 2008

Periodic Report

Meteor 55: 4th Weekly Report

The fourth week of the cruise has been full of incident. Remaining uppermost in our minds is our unexpected meeting with Polarstern on the high seas. More about that later. The week also saw us collect our 2000 water sample, complete our section across the tropical Atlantic including sampling over the continental shelf of Guinea Bissau, and we also conducted our final 'routine' CTD station. We initiated a series of 'mega-experiments', or on-deck incubations, involving most of the groups on board. These experiments will continue during the transit to Douala. The experiments are already stimulating a lot of discussion concerning follow-up research on future expeditions. More about those ideas in my final report perhaps. Underway and air sampling will continue until we leave the waters of the Ivory Coast.

Our memories of the past week are dominated by the high-seas