Overview
- The voyage departs December 14 from Buenos Aires and concludes January 10, 2026 in Puerto Madryn aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Falkor (too).
- Fieldwork will target the Salado and Malvinas basins and the Colorado–Rawson sector on the Argentine continental slope.
- At least 15 dives with the SuBastian ROV are planned, complemented by multibeam seafloor mapping and high‑volume environmental DNA sampling.
- The interdisciplinary team numbers 25 scientists, including 17 from Argentina and 11 from UBA’s Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, with collaborators such as marine ecologist Lisa Levin.
- Researchers will investigate methane-driven ecosystem dynamics and evaluate whether deep communities act as sinks for microplastics incorporated by benthic fauna.