Morris Kahn Marine Research Station - Israel

DEIMS.ID:

https://deims.org/a809bad4-f3d1-452b-ad29-0723a75501d6

Basic Information

Site Name:

Morris Kahn Marine Research Station

Short name :

MKMRS

Country (Site Location):

Israel

LTER Member Network:

Israel (LTER-Israel)

Contact: Site Manager:

Leigh Kroeger

Free Keywords:

General Site Description:

The Morris Kahn Marine Research Station was established in order to provide baseline data and understanding of the marine ecological system in the Mediterranean Sea of Israeli coastal waters. The Charney School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa recently established a long-term ecological research station focusing on the eastern Mediterranean basin located in Kibbutz Sdot Yam, 44 km south of Haifa, near Caesarea. The station is called the Morris Kahn Marine Research Station and focuses on five main research topics; · Top Predators · Sediments · Water composition (Biogeochemistry) · Rocky Bottoms · Fish Disease (pathogens) The Israeli coastal area and the eastern Mediterranean Sea is experiencing accelerated development and infrastructure projects along the coastline, and a massive exploitation of marine resources never experienced in our region and nation. Coupled with the effects of global climate change and local polluting factors, life in the shallow and deep sea are changing rapidly. The Morris Kahn Marine Research Station is responsible for collecting biological and ecological data for long term research that will provide insight for understanding processes and predicting the effects of climate change and development on the environment. Such data will allow for science-based decisions that will greatly influence the interaction nature of future generations with the sea and the marine environment. This issue is particularly important given the fact that an majority of the water consumed in Israel is produced through desalinization of sea water, the main energy supply is based off of marine gas fields, aquaculture is gaining momentum as development allows for the cultivation of fish for human consumption in marine farms, and national projects referring to the sea as “developable land” that can be dried and made into artificial islands for various infrastructures. In order to accompany such a momentum in development without the collapse of the ecosystem and destruction of the sea as a natural resource, there is a need to provide reliable and in depth understanding as to how the system works. To accomplish these goals, the station employs top of the line researchers specializing in the Mediterranean as well as collaborate with other academic and research centres in Israel, while providing the best equipment for research and analysis of data collected from the sea including; · Rosetta collecting water samples from different depths · CTD device for measuring physical data of water · Advanced underwater photography and documentation equipment · Closed and controlled water system for aquaculture research · Device for detecting and quantifying nutrients in the water (Seal AA3). · Robot for measuring isotopes in samples (GC-IRMS-MS) · Confocal microscopy · Membrane mass spectrometer · Servers for database backup and maintenance · AAUS diving club performing scientific technical dives · Closed dive systems to allow deep, long, and safe dives · Boat used as a platform for diving and marine monitoring on the continental shelf · Laboratories for dissection · Work rooms for student and guest researchers · Meeting/conference rooms · AUV and ROV (Marine technologies lab) · THEMO buoy for deep sea research · Drones and other aerial devices · Website for sharing information as well as providing accessible information for the general public

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General Characteristics, Purpose, History

Site Status:

preliminary

Year Site Established:

2015

Size :

270 000.00ha

Research Topics:

Parameters:

Geographic

Coordinates:

Latitude: 32.489472000000
Longitude: 34.890547200000

Site Details

Ecosystem and Environmental Characteristics

Air Temperature Range (Monthly Minimum) FROM:

15.00°C

Air Temperature Range (Monthly Maximum) TO :

40.00°C

Air Temperature: Average Annual:

25.00°C

Biome :

Marine

GEO-BON Biome:

Marine

Ecosystem and Land Use:

Marine
Temperate shelfs and seas

Biogeographical Region:

Mediterranean

Geology:

While being a relatively very small country, Israel’s geology is quite varied and it displays many interesting geological phenomena. Outcrops of sedimentary rocks - both marine and terrigenous (land-formed) - span 10 geological periods, from the early Triassic period (which started 250 million years ago; outcrop is located in Makhtesh Ramon, see below) to the present. In the very southern part of the country, in the vicinity of Eilat, the landscape is dominated by many types/variations of igneous and metamorphic rocks, part of the Arabo-Nubian massif and dating back to the Precambrian Era. In the north east of the country, there are large expanses of very young volcanic rocks, the result of eruptions in the last 25 million years. An interesting geological feature is a 210 m tall halite (rock salt) formation called "Mount Sodom", in the Dead Sea area (from Palyam.org)

Hydrology:

The EMS is as much a ‘marine’ desert as its terrestrial counterpart, the Sahara. The arid summers in our region cause the surface waters to become hotter and more saline. This results in a highly unusual anti-estuarine circulation, which brings nutrient-depleted waters into the EMS from the Straits of Sicily and causes the nutrient-rich waters to be jetted out via the deeper outflowing waters. This means there are very low levels of nutrients for algae and plants to grow as a limited, but an unusually semi-tropical, system (MKMRS report 2018).

Vegetation:

Rocky intertidal habitats of Vermetid reef structures from the Pleistocene dune formations. They are inhabited by gastropods (Dendropoma sp.) and characterized by calcareous red algae and the shells of Vermetus triqueter. This reduces erosion and gives the reefs another name - 'abrasion platform' - around mid sea level. The formations are typical in water temperate climes.

Soils:

The continental margin of northern Sinai and Israel, up to Haifa Bay, is the northeastern limb of the submarine Nile Delta Cone. It is made up predominantly of clastics from the Nile and its predecessors. The continental shelf and coastal plain of Israel are built of a series of shore-parallel ridges composed of carbonate-cemented quartz sandstone (locally named kurkar), a lithification product of windblown sands that were piled up into dunes during the Pleistocene. The drop in global sea level and regression during the last glacial period exposed the continental shelf to subaerial erosion and created a widespread regional erosional unconformity which is expressed as a prominent seismic reflector at the top of the kurkar layers. The subsequent Holocene transgression abraded much of the westernmost kurkar ridges, drowned their cores, and covered the previous lowstand deposits with marine sands, which were in turn covered by a sequence of sub-recent clayey silts (from Almagor, Gill, and Perath, 1999)

Network Affiliation and Network Specific Information

Affiliation:

LTER

LTER related

LTER Site Classification/Category:

Emerging

Protection Status and Resource Management

Management of Resources :

Yes

Management of Resources - Percent of Site:

0 - 25%

Design and Scale of Site

Site Type (Spatial Design):

Complex Site

Infrastructure

Accessible All Year :

Yes

All parts of Site Accessible:

Yes

Access Type:

regular car

Permanent Power Supply:

Yes

Infrastructure:

Energy and data infrastructure › Data transmission › Data Transmission Type (within site) › Telephone line
Energy and data infrastructure › Data transmission › Data Transmission Type (from Site) › No data transmission from site
Energy and data infrastructure › Energy supply › Permanent Power Supply Location › Central station(s)
Energy and data infrastructure › Energy supply › Permanent Power Produced › 10-100 kW
Supporting infrastructure › Lodging at site › > 10 beds
Supporting infrastructure › Staff room at site › 2 - 5 places
Supporting infrastructure › Transportation › Vehicle 4WD
Observation device › Marine Platform

Data Management

General Data Policy:

Co-authorship on publications resulting from use of the dataset

The data provider must be offered co-authorship for publications using this dataset at least within the metadata description

Formal acknowledgement of the dataset providers

The opportunity to collaborate on the project using the dataset

The opportunity to review the results based on the dataset

Mutual agreement on reciprocal sharing of data

Data Storage Location :

Distributed over multiple institutions

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