Fruit of the field work now online

Seamount SGD sites

As the BONUS Seamount Project is approaching the final hours, an overview of the fieldwork the group have accomplished over the last three years is now available.

The resarchers have made 25 different field trips covering the three countries of Finland, Germany and Denmark. In Finland the work have been carried out mainly in the Hanko area, in Germany focus have been on the Ekernförde Bay area. In Denmark researchers was investigating the Horsens Bay area. Different forms of underwater vehicles were also tested on the same occasion (see logs below article).

Seven new and one old site discovered

The field trips and following analysis have resulted in identifying no less than seven new sites of submarine groundwater discharge, called SGDs.

Four of these are located in the Ekernförde Bay, one in Flensburg Bay, one at the Hanko Peninsua and one in Horsens Bay (see map above). The team also identified a SGD number five at Ekernförde, close to Mittelgrund, but this site is not a novel encounter, since its’ existence have been known for many years through the local community. However, this SGD have still played an important role in the project, serving as a control site amongst other things.

This brings the total number of known SGD sites in the Baltic Sea up to 24. All of wich can help scientists better understand, how the groundwater-sea dynamics work in the Baltic Sea.

See their locations on the map below. For further informaiton on the sites or field work details, please contact [email protected]

Field work logs of the Seamount team 2017-2019 

No Date Location Activity Partner
Begin End
1 23-05-2017 24-05-2017 Hanko Lappohja, Finland Seafloor seismic survey, seawater and sediment sampling onboard RV GEOMARI GTK
2 25-05-2017 26-05-2017 Hanko Hopearanta-Furunäs, Finland Seafloor seismic survey, seawater and sediment sampling onboard RV GEOMARI GTK
3 17-08-2017 17-08-2017 Vattajanniemi, Finland Seafloor seismic survey, seawater and sediment sampling onboard RV GEOMARI GTK
4 23-10-2017 24-10-2017 Hanko Lappohja, Finland Ground-penetrating radar survey GTK
5 26-10-2017 26-10-2017 Hanko Lappohja, Finland Groundwater test well sampling GTK
6 13-11-2017 17-11-2017 Eckernförde Bay, Germany RV LITTORINA cruise L17-19, SGD survey CAU
7 04-04-2018 05-04-2018 Hanko Lappohja, Finland Refraction seismic survey GTK
8 14-05-2018 18-05-2018 Horsens Fjord, Denmark Seismic mapping onboard RV MARITINA GEUS
9 21-05-2018 25-05-2018 Hanko Lappohja, Finland Radon survey with RV GRIDI, groundwater test well sampling GTK, CAU
10 30-05-2018 31-05-2018 Hanko Lappohja, Finland Sediment, porewater and seawater sampling onboard RV GEOMARI. Seafloor sensor frame mooring GTK
11 28-06-2018 28-06-2018 Eurajoensalmi, Finland Seafloor seismic survey, seawater and sediment sampling onboard RV GEOMARI GTK
12 06-07-2018 09-07-2018 Eckernförde Bay, Germany RV ELISABETH MANN BORGESE cruise EMB187, Test of AUV platform and SGD survey IOW, CAU, EvoLogics, NOA
13 08-08-2018 10-08-2018 Horsens Fjord, Denmark Radon survey and beach porewater sampling GEUS, CAU
14 22-10-2019 26-10-2019 Eckernförde Bay, Germany RV LITTORINA cruise L18-15, SGD survey CAU
15 23-08-2018 24-08-2018 Eckernförde Sampling of SGD at Hemmelmark CAU
16 21-03-2019 22-03-2019 Eckernförde Bay, Germany RV LITTORINA cruise L19-1a, SGD survey CAU
17 10-04-2019 10-04-2019 Berlin, Germany Radon sensor test at groundwater well CAU, EvoLogics
18 29-04-2019 03-05-2019 Horsens Fjord, Denmark Seismic mapping and core sampling onboard RV MARITINA GEUS, CAU
19 14-05-2019 17-05-2019 Eckernförde Bay, Germany RV LITTORINA cruise L19-06, hydroacoustic survey and porewater sampling CAU; BONUS ECOMAP; GEOMAR, Univ. Otago
20 15-08-2019 16-08-2019 Horsens Fjord, Denmark Radon survey and diving GEUS, CAU
21 26-09-2019 27-09-2019 Hanko Lappohja, Finland Sediment, porewater and seawater sampling onboard RV GEOMARI. Sea surface Ra sampling GTK, Univ. Helsinki, IOW
22 28-09-2019 28-09-2019 Hanko Lappohja, Finland Groundwater test well sampling GTK, Univ. Helsinki, IOW
23 21-10-2019 25-10-2019 Kiel Bight, western Baltic Sea RV LITTORINA cruise L19-14, SGD survey CAU; BONUS INTEGRAL
24 21-10-2019 26-10-2019 Hanko Lappohja, Finland RV GEOMARI cruise, Test of AUV platform and SGD survey GTK, CAU, IOW, EvoLogics
25 11-11-2019 15-11-2019 Horsens Fjord, Denmark Coring and porewater sampling + FloaTEM Measurements by Aarhus University GEUS, Aarhus University