An international team of scientists will embark on a six-week research expedition in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to study how nutrients arrive at the surface waters where they are used by microscopic marine plants. The nutrients, which feed the tiniest organisms in the ocean, provide food for the rest of the marine ecosystem all the way up to whales.

The research cruise will take place in April and May between the Canary Islands and Bermuda, and will be led by the University of East Anglia and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC). The team, based on board the Royal Research Ship Discovery, will use robotic floats that measure ocean properties and track ocean currents, along with a range of other sensors and devices.

The aim is to understand the processes that control the supply of nutrients to the sunlit surface waters in the remote mid-Atlantic Ocean, which is typically characterized by low levels of nutrients. This region, however, is currently experiencing the largest observed phytoplankton bloom in the past decade.

"The ocean's supply of nutrients is vital to the marine food web and ultimately the health of our planet," said Dr. Thomas Weber from UEA's School of Environmental Sciences, who is co-leading the study with Dr. Peter J.S. Franks from NOC.

"Our scientific goal is to identify and quantify the physical mechanisms that bring nutrient-rich waters to the surface, enabling growth and reproduction of phytoplankton – microscopic algae that form the foundation of ocean ecosystems.

"This project represents an exciting contribution to our understanding of how the ocean works, and how it responds to natural and man-made changes in the environment," he added.