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Expedition
to the Mariana forearc
Mar.
23 - May 4, 2003
Day
14, April 5th
(click
on any image for the larger version)
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Day
14 - WHAT’S IT LOOK LIKE?
Fourteen
days of Daily Updates, Photos, Science Objectives and Lessons but
we haven’t even seen the website yet. We won’t see it until we return
to shore. We can do e-mail from the ship but we don’t have internet
access. Tom F., Patty
and I are doing the writing
and taking the pictures. We send everything to Tara, our land-based,
University of Hawaii, web manager. Tara does all the formatting
and uploading. For us, it will be a surprise when we return to shore.
E-mail
is a great addition to maintaining sanity at sea. Life is better
when you can stay in touch with family and friends. In the 1980’s
we could call home using the ship-to-shore telephone but that was
a radio relay to a shore-base that actually placed the call. The
cost was about $15 per minute so no one working at sea could afford
use it except for very special occasions. I think internet at sea
will happen soon with the speed at which technology continues to
advance.
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The
core weight (3,500 pounds) |
We
finally finished that marathon sonar flight over Quaker Seamount at
about 0330. We then did gravity cores at two small mounds to the east
of Quaker. These mounds look like mini-volcanoes and have been nicknamed
Blip and Nip. Both gravity cores came up with just a small amount
of sediment and mud. Both contain serpentine and are good targets
for piston cores sometime in the future. |
| We
spent the afternoon and evening using the ship’s multibeam sonar to
map the area from Quaker Seamount, north over Ms. Pacman Seamount
and continuing over Pacman Seamount. Pacman is a huge seamount nicknamed
for the semicircular shape of its summit. Nathan,
the map guru, has been calling the smaller seamount to the south Ms.
Pacman and the name has stuck. “She” is now Ms. Pacman to all of us.
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The
bridge at night |
 Knot
at sunset
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The
names of all the seamounts and formations in the Mariana Forearc
are nicknames. You won’t find these names on official maps. For
the scientists working here, it is much easier to call the seamounts
by name than refer to them by location. The many “blue” names, of
course, refer to the blue serpentine mud that seeps upward to their
summits.
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| One
of the Jason Team asked me yesterday, “What is the biggest revelation
you’ve had so far?” I didn’t even have to think to answer that question.
I am constantly amazed by the length of time it takes for everything
relating to deep sea exploration. To learn the secrets of the deep
takes input from scientific experts in many fields, the advanced technology
from years of experimentation, a ship dedicated to this research and
a great deal of PATIENCE. Studies under sea happen in slow motion
compared to work on land. Then there are the unexpected breakdowns
in the tow-fish electronics. Everything adds to the time factor. Equipment
breakdowns may slow us down, but don’t keep us down. The Jason Team
is a crew of highly trained and highly specialized people who know
their stuff and waste no time getting machinery back in operation.
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| The
scientists are absolutely thrilled with the new maps they are getting
of the sea floor and seamounts. Each new map is proudly and excitedly
put on display. The imagery is so detailed that even my novice eye
can detect the many flows and faults of this newly explored terrain.
|
 Linda
and huge lines |
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Science
Summary - Days 14, April 5th
Science
Objectives, Day 14:
The
fourteenth day of the cruise, Apr. 5, after finishing the DSL120
survey of Quaker Seamount we will transit to two gravity core targets
that appear to be recent outbreaks of serpentinite mud volcanism
at the base of faults to the east of Quaker Seamount. The gravity
coring will be a reconnaissance effort, but will let us know if
these are targets that merit piston coring later in the cruise.
Return
to the Daily Update Page
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