My name is Colin Griffiths, I am a physical oceanography in the Physics, Sea-Ice and Technology Group at SAMS. The Scottish Association for Marine Science is located just outside Oban on the west coast of Scotland. The hydrographic section we are undertaking on D328 was first occupied by my former boss at SAMS, David Ellett. The line comprises of a number of CTD stations starting in the Sound of Mull and finishing at Rockall. The line was started in 1975 and typically occupied 4 times a year. In the early years a number of current meter moorings were maintained along the line. Now there is just a single current meter mooring in the Tiree Passage. This mooring has been maintained since 1981 to the present day. In the mid nineties the line was occupied jointly with scientists from the National Oceanographic Centre, Southampton and extended to Iceland. The line is now known as the Extended Ellett Line and occupied once a year. The principle parameters measured are temperature, salinity, fluorescence, oxygen & nutrients. |
