Equipment Hire

SRSL have a wide range of sampling and analytical equipment for hire, so that we can deliver Environmental Surveys anywhere in the UK or overseas. SAMS equipment can be hired independently of support services or as part of Environmental Impact Assessment work packages, with scientific expertise and project management provided by SRSL.

SAMPLING EQUIPMENT FOR HIRE

SRSL also offer a variety of marine sampling devices for hire (with and without support services).  These include the SAMS’ Gravity Corer, Van Veen Grabs and Box corer, Multi-corer and Megacorer, Craib corer, Spear corer, Multi-sensor core logger and Laser particle-size analyser, CTD rosettes, hydrophones and drop-down video equipment. See below for more information on SAMS Autonomous Landers.

ANALYTICAL FACILTIES

SAMS has built up a suite of world-class analytical facilities which are used for sediment, wtare and biological samples from the marine environment. Analyses include trace metal/element and organic compounds characterisation, (ICP-MS and ICP-OES), particle size analysis (PSA), nutrient analysis, radiochemistry and core-logging.

SMI is home to Scotland’s only multisensory-core logger. This device makes high resolution automated measurements of sediment cores, which include P-wave velocity, gamma ray attenuation bulk density, magnetic susceptibility and inductive resistivity (porosity) measurements.

SAMS DIVE TEAM

SAMS currently hosts the UK National Facility for Scientific Diving (NFSD), which provides a dive team for scientific dive training and environmental surveys. The dive team is currently based on ten active scientific divers who conduct over 650 diving operations a year in numerous environments and countries around the world.  SCUBA equipment for open-circuit air diving, and open and semi-closed mixed gas diving is available, including compressors and full face masks. The centre operates three small boats (2 RIBs and 1 Dory), which can be chartered and launched at the SAMS pontoon, some 300 m away in the Lynn of Lorn. SAMS dive team are also regularly contracted to work overseas, from the Tropics to the Arctic.

SAMS divers can be contracted to deploy, maintain and/or retrieve equipment/structures underwater. By attaching the equipment to permanent or long-term moorings using divers means that the whole mooring does not have to be lifted each time. If a large surface vessel is required for this lifting process, then it can be expensive. Continual deployment and recovery of moorings can impact the sea floor in vulnerable areas.
 
Environmental surveys

AUTONOMOUS LANDERS

SAMS has a unique benthic lander fleet with in-situ microsensors for imaging and measuring a range of benthic parameters. These lander systems are available for hire, with or without technical and analytical support. SAMS staff can also provide bespoke microsensor development and data-analysis services.               
 
SAMS has expertise in the development and application of in-situ lander systems for studying microbial ecology and biogeochemistry. Seabed landers are autonomous deep-sea robots capable of descending independently to full ocean depth (6000m or deeper) without any cable or umbilical to the surface. The landers are fitted with microelectrodes and imaging sensors capable of measuring fluxes of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients and metals, as well as measuring pH, nitrate and hydrogen sulphide distributions in sediment. This allows SAMS scientists to measure fine-scale processes such as solute exchange, carbon mineralization, photosynthesis, bioturbation, and bioirrigtaion. On the seafloor the lander operates autonomously, performing various biogeochemical investigations in and just above the sediment. On completion of its mission the lander is recalled to the surface by an acoustic signal sent from the ship, releasing its ballast and floating up to the sea surface to be retrieved by ship. SAMS has a fleet of 6 seabed landers of varying types and has recently become one of the leading institutes in the World on lander technology.
 
The Chamber lander inserts a chamber into the sediment to measure the in situ exchange of e.g. carbon, oxygen, nutrients and metals between the seabed and the overlying water column (after lid closure). When returning to the surface the lander brings back data logged by its various sensors as well as water samples and sediments collected within the chamber that can be further analysed. The chamber lander will provide a quantitative insight into how much of the organic matter in the sediment is mineralized and released back to the water column as carbon dioxide and nutrients.
   
The planar optode lander is used to take high resolution 2D-images (~100 µm/pixel) of oxygen and pH across the sediment water interface and is especially useful to study the influence of meio- and macrofauna behaviour on chemical gradients and transformations in the sediment. This optical detection method of oxygen and pH is based on fluorescent chemical compounds that are incorporated into a thin foil (~20µm) which is placed on the window faceplate of the wedge at the bottom of the planar optode cylinder (top & bottom middle). Time series of images of oxygen and pH can also be used to study the temporal dynamics in their distributions across the sediment water interface. Thus, planar optodes can provide a holistic understanding of the importance and function of fauna for biogeochemical gradients in sediments and as such bridge the gap between chamber incubations and 1-D microelectrode profiles.

The SAMS profiling lander is equipped with a suite of fine tipped (~20µm) microelectrodes to study microbial processes and their rates in the sediment. Typically 1-D profiles of e.g. O2 (bottom right), pH, H2S, NO32- and resistivity are measured across the sediment water interface with high spatial resolution (100µm/step) and provide detailed information about their distribution and quantitative importance at various depths in the sediment. All sensors are made at SAMS.
The Eddy Correlation Lander is designed to measure the net flux of oxygen across a large area of the seabed (“foot-print”£100m2) up-stream from the lander. It operates by simultaneously making high frequency measurements of the net vertical water velocity with an ADV and the Oxygen concentration with a microelectrode in the same point. The prime advantage with this technique is that flux measurements can be performed without enclosing or affecting the sediment which makes it possible to do measurements on a variety of different sediment types and substrates (e.g. sandy sediments and reef structures) and also opens up the possibility for long term flux measurements.

 
The Ultra-Deep Profiling Lander is a newly developed lander, designed to perform “ultra-deep” deployments (>10000m) in places such as the Marianas trench in the Western Pacific Ocean. It is equipped with a transecting profiler capable of making multiple profiles across a metre of the seabed to study small scale spatial variations in e.g. the sediment oxygen distribution.