Report from offshore wind cruise June 2022

The cruise is part of the project “An integrated geological characterization of ground conditions for offshore wind foundations in the North Sea” funded by the Akademia-Agreement.

After a windy start, the group have had perfect weather for collecting high resolution acoustic data and sediment cores. This is the first time a vibro-corer system has been used on research vessel from a Norwegian university, allowing the group to collect cores in sandy areas of the seabed, which has previously been difficult to achieve. The group have made good progress in achieving their planned goals, and have already collected 10 sediment cores and over 600 km of acoustic data at the Sørlige Nordsjø II site, which will allow the students to analyse the complex geological history of the area and its implications for offshore wind foundation conditions.

Tomorrow the group will finish with data collection at the Sørlige Nordsjø II site (3 additional vibrocores), and head north to the Utsira Nord site while the good weather persists. Here, the group will use two different types of coring systems called a gravity corer and a calypso corer, targeting glacial and marine sediments in the deep Norwegian Channel. Stay tuned to hear how the group will get on at Utsira Nord!