In this video, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, physical oceanographer Matthew Alford describes the challenges of recovering moorings sent to the deep ocean during the National Science Foundation-sponsored project T-TIDE, now wrapping up its final leg.
The 10-week project, the Tasman Tidal Dissipation Experiment (T-TIDE), involves two U.S. research vessels, Scripps’s R/V Roger Revelle and Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor, and includes scientists from the U.S., Canada, and Australia. It will ultimately lead to major improvements in global climate models and an understanding of biological production concentrating nutrients for fisheries. Primary funding for the project comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Scientists deployed autonomous deep-diving gliders, installed and recovered 15 deep-sea moorings and employed a number of shipboard instrument systems to search for highly-turbulent events at depths up to two miles that are predicted to occur as the incoming tide collides with the Tasmanian continental slope.
Related Video: T-TIDE leg 3 // Mooring recovery cruise