Preliminary geological results of sea-bed sampling in the Hebrides area from the RRS James Cook in 2007

The aims of the RRS James Cook cruise were to collect sea-bed samples using the British Geological Survey (BGS) 15m rock-drill and to acquire site specific high-resolution multibeam echosounder data in the Moray Firth, Nun Rock, Flannan, Rosemary Bank, Lousy Bank and Hatton Bank areas. Unfortunately due to poor weather conditions the original work programme had to be modified. Sampling was successfully undertaken in the Moray Firth, Nun Rock and Flannan areas, with additional sampling carried out in the sheltered waters of the Summer Isles area, Mingulay, Loch Linnhe, Loch Hourn and island of Muck area. This cruise formed a key part of the BGS strategic mapping programme and was funded through the BGS Science Budget. The revised work programme was highly successful with 274.10m of core collected from 101 sites using either the BGS 15m rock-drill, BGS 6m vibrocorer or the BGS gravity-corer. Additional multibeam echosounder data were collected to assist in locating individual sample sites for example in the Summer Isles area, or to build upon existing data.