SWINGS Oceanographic mission to study nutrient sources, sinks and distribution processes in the Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean is considered a nutrient ‘hub’ between the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, but the sources, sinks and processes controlling the distribution of these nutrients are presently unknown.

SWINGS is a multidisciplinary project that aims to identify the sources, transformations and sinks of trace elements and isotopes along a section of the Southern Indian Ocean (SIO). The SWINGS project – France’s major contribution to the international GEOTRACES Programme (www.geotraces.org) – involves 78 scientists from 19 laboratories in 6 countries in a 63-day oceanographic mission in the SIO with 47 participants on board the survey vessel.

The SWINGS project’s strategy is based on closely combining physical oceanography, biogeochemistry and modelling.

As the first year of the project, 2020 will be devoted to preparing for the survey mission, which is scheduled for early 2021 (summer in the southern hemisphere), aboard the Marion-Dufresne. Data analysis, validation and interpretation will begin in 2021 in the northern hemisphere.