mission
It's a Wrap
Sunday, October 2, 2005Theresa Pinilla and Rhonda Marohl
Daily Report
This morning’s gray clouds gave way to a partly sunny sky this afternoon with scattered cover. Temperatures remain in the range of 55-60 degrees. Swells were small today, with only a bit of pitch during the morning.
Jason dive 180, which began with the retrieval of ABE on Friday night, continues today. Jason retrieved a “poor man’s incubator” from the base of Roane, and deployed a new one near the top of the same structure. An osmosampler was also retrieved. This device uses highly saline water to trigger osmotic pressure that pulls water through small-bore tubing to provide a continuous time sample. When the sample is studied, each day is represented by a specific segment of tubing, based on the known rate of pull.
At Finn, in the Faulty Towers complex, some rock samples were collected. Worms and bacterial mats hitched a ride to the surface on them. As soon as they reached the surface, a team of biologists mobilized. Some of the organisms are frozen, others are preserved in formaldehyde solution, and some kept in sea water depending on what kinds of studies are planned.
We spent some time in transit to KESE (Keck Endeavour South East), one of the seismology sites. Once there, a seismonument was deployed. The seismonument consists of a concrete block with a seismometer inserted. They are used in locations where it’s not practical to drill into the rock, or there is not much visible rock to drill into. These instruments are more stable and provide more reliable data when set in a solid base, instead of sitting on the surface.
After the seismonument was in position, we traveled northwest to the Main Field, and examined an extinct sulfide field to its south. The seafloor was imaged along the way from this extinct field to the Smoke and Mirrors (S&M) cluster in the main field. Smoke and Mirrors is being videotaped in high definition in part to gather better images as a baseline for future studies.
Dive 180 ended this evening, and there was a final science meeting to discuss outcomes and impressions of this cruise.
Impressions
Rhonda Marohl,
Research Technician, University of Washington
Being on the Thompson at this time is an amazing experience! There are so many different people, equipment, and experiments going continuously on board that there is never a dull moment. The same theme applies to my experience actually getting on the Thompson. My group was scheduled for the third leg of the cruise, September 25th through October 4th. The plan was to drive up to Victoria BC, catch a smaller ship to take us out to the Thompson, and do a ship to ship transfer. Sounds simple enough right? Well… almost :).
Due to adverse weather conditions we couldn’t leave on the 24th as planned, so we had an extra day to wander around Victoria. Victoria is a great place to visit and our group and I had lots of fun wandering around the beautiful city streets and stopping at as many chocolate shops as possible. The next day we packed up all of our gear and headed out to the pier to wait for the ship that would take us out to sea. We knew that we were going on a fishing boat, but we weren’t quite sure what condition it was in or how big it was. To our pleasant surprise, it was a 130ft blue and white ship called the Frosti. The Captain and crew were super friendly, and took advantage of us poor scientists, making us put on our survival or “gumby” suits twice! Gumby suits are one big, thick, piece of spandex/foam like material that helps keep you afloat and warm in the cold ocean waters if you ever have to abandon ship. They are not exactly the easiest suits to put on, and once you do movement is pretty restricted and jerky; hence the name “gumby suit.” After the gumby suit escapade, we pulled out of the harbor to a gorgeous sunset. Thus began our journey.
In order to get to the Thompson as soon as possible, we steamed full throttle in less than ideal seas all though the night and the next day. Needless to say, none of us were feeling very well during the trip, and I didn’t even make it out of bed! At dinner time the Thompson was in view, and transfer was set at 7:00pm. Now we were all a little nervous/excited about this transfer, because we had to step off of the Frosti on to a zodiac, which would carry us to the Thompson. At the Thompson, they would use an “elevator” to pick up the whole zodiac and carry us aboard. This sounded more exciting at the time than nerve racking, because I pictured clear sunny skies and glass calm seas. Actually, the transfer didn’t happen until well after dark, and the seas were anything but calm. Our group was mustered on the fan tail of the Frosti (some of us still a little seasick), watching as the zodiac made a pass to hook up with us once, twice, three times before the Captain waved them away saying that it was too dangerous for the transfer to proceed.
Now the group was really worried because we had already lost one valuable day to do research, might we lose another? After a few minutes, the zodiac came back for another try. This time they made a smooth connection with the Frosti, and the scientists transferring from the Thompson climbed aboard. “Don’t worry!” they said, “These guys know what they’re doing and they will get you there safely. It’s a great ride!” I looked at them a little skeptically as the small zodiac bounced around the Frosti like bath tub toy. But somewhere in the rational part of my brain, I knew they were right because safety was the main concern of the Captain of the Frosti and crew of the zodiac.
It was then my turn to step on to the zodiac. “Remember, don’t move until the waves bring the zodiac up, then step down and let go of the ladder!” the First Mate said. As I dangled from the ladder with the zodiac far below me, I thought “Huh, this really isn’t so bad.” Sure enough, the waves carried the zodiac up, I stepped back, and plopped down right in the middle of the boat. Quickly, I scooted to the side to get out of the way of the crew, and we were off! I couldn’t really see much because it was so dark, but it definitely was a wild ride. It reminded me of something out of an amusement park, because it was so much fun! The waves were a tad taller than the zodiac, so it took some brilliant negotiating of the crew to get over them without flipping over. We got pretty wet from the spray from the waves, but over all it was much more exciting than scary. When we got to the elevator at the Thompson I was a little disappointed it was over, and the other scientists in the zodiac shouted “Are you sure we can’t do that again?!?” Alas, we were hoisted up on to the Thompson, and we jumped out of the zodiac on to the large deck. It felt like land compared to the Frosti because it was so stable. We had finally made it!!!
The zodiac made three more trips to get the rest of the group and gear, and all went off without a hitch. Now we are all here doing live broadcasts, controlling Jason, ABE, Leo, and other instruments, and collecting some great data. The life of a scientist is never boring!
Daily Question
In the September 19 log you reported that the area of Sasquatch you were visiting showed increasing hydrothermal activity. Is it possible that region is experiencing a rebirth? What other clues might point to rejuvenation? Have any animals been sighted there?
Cindy Maldonado, Three Rivers Christian School, Longview, WA
The Sasquatch vent field is the northernmost of the vents along the Endeavour segment. It is a very small field, only visited 4 or 5 times. Its existence was theorized, based on CTD data, in 1987. It was actually found during an Alvin dive in 2000. Since it is so recently identified, it has not been studied as extensively, and the available data is very short-term. It is an old vent field, and based on the size of the structures found there, was very active at one time. Deb Glickson describes it as similar to the Mothra field where we have also been working. Since the discovery of Sasquatch in 2000, it has been visited on Tiburon dives in 2002 and 2004. Compared to previous observations, there is greater flow, and greater diffuse flow, than before. There is no way to know yet whether this is a temporary state, possibly due to seismic activity stirring up the subsurface plumbing, or a resurgence of activity. It would take a longer time-series of fluid chemistry data to begin to answer that. The critters at Sasquatch are similar to those found elsewhere along Endeavour- spider crabs, limpets, tubeworms, but not as abundant. Because of the relatively low flow, the food supply may not be as appealing.
Derek Knutson, Crater High School, Central Point, OR
The main countries involved in studying hydrothermal vents include: Canada, France, Russia, Norway, Japan, China, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Korea, and India. The last two are in the beginning of their research. In addition to these efforts, there are individual scientists from around the world who are participating and contributing to understanding of these amazing structures. Some of them may be working with samples brought back by colleagues or analyzing data from others in their field.
