About UOS

The University of the Sea is a partnership between the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, the Australian National University, the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales, the University of Technology Sydney, the University of Tokyo, the Korean Ocean Research and Development Institute, Tongji University China, the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans Canada, the National Institute of Oceanography Goa, and the Indonesian Research Centre for Marine Technology. Together these institutions make up the Asian Neighbours Global Change Network, whose secretariat is located at the University of Sydney (http://www.usims.org.usyd.edu.au/floating.html).

The University of the Sea programme is funded by grants from the Toyota Foundation in Japan, the Australian Earth Systems Science Network (through the ARC), and the Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research. The programme is made possible by the support of the French Polar Institute (IPEV) who host the University of the sea onboard their research vessel the Marion Dufresne.

The first University of the Sea cruise on board the Marion Dufresne departed from Port Moresby on the June 24 and will finish in Darwin on July 8. The UOS hopes to give students, especially those from developing countries in the region, the opportunity to gain the skills and knowledge required for participation in the global debate on the use of the ocean.

Patrick De Deckker from ANU will lead the team of three academics and 19 postgraduate students [7 Australians and 11 from the Asia-Pacific region].

While at sea, researchers and technicians will primarily take long cores [>40m] as well as box cores [again >12m long]. These cores will be opened, logged, photographed, and various physico-chemical properties will be measured before storing the cores at 4°C for future research. Some cores will be sampled for geochemical analysis, including organic compounds. All UOS students will participate in the above tasks by helping the researchers and technicians.

Principal coring areas will be in the Gulf of Papua, the Arafura Sea, and possibly the Bonaparte Gulf or south of the Timor Trough. Students will also participate in plankton sampling, examination and use of the CTD water sampling equipment [CTD: conductivity-temperature-depth] and interpretation of retrieved data. In some areas, swath mapping will also be carried out, which also includes the use and interpretation of 3.5Kh seismic profiles.

An intensive series of lectures will be presented every day to the students by UOS staff, including Ass. Prof. Jock Keene from Sydney University, as well as by other researchers and ship staff.

Principal lecture themes are:
Principles of navigation; swath mapping techniques and their interpretation; seismic profiling and relevant interpretation.; coring techniques [gravity, Kuhlenberg, giant box corer]; plankton and benthos collection [plus practical examination under microscopes]; core logging and interpretation of all physico-chemical properties; water sampling and water chemistry.

Additional lectures will be presented on sedimentology, isotope and trace element geochemistry, oceanic carbon cycling, micropalaeontology, and satellite imagery of relevance to oceanography.

Students will be asked to submit a report of all activities before leaving the ship and are required to prepare and present a poster detailing one specific research activity of their choice. Students will be asked to work in groups that will be designated by the staff to enable people with diversified interests to work together. Poster presentation to the UOS group will occur towards the end of the cruise with a prize ceremony following afterwards . The students will be able to keep their posters and reports.

Hopefully, this 'venture' will be repeated in 2006 when the Marion Dufresne will be visiting Australian waters once more.