Expedition to the Mariana forearc

Mar. 23 - May 4, 2003

Days 28 & 29, April 19th and 20th

(click on any image for the larger version)

Days 28 & 29 Happy Easter Bat

Friday night or Saturday morning? However you name it, it’s still midnight and we’re rigging for a piston core. No time to process Jason’s push cores before setting up for the piston core, so the science crew is left with 8 push cores and a piston core to process. They work in the lab all night only taking a break to go out on deck to help the crew pick up the transponders.

It’s really quiet around the lab this morning. Tom F. is standing watch in the computer room as we travel from Quaker Seamount back to Big Blue Seamount, mapping as we go. I’m up but the rest of the science crew is finally off to get a little sleep. We picked up the transponders we had left at Big Blue and headed south to Celestial Seamount. Celestial is a 9-hour trip so it gives everyone a chance for some much needed rest.

Dax, one of the cooks, has been talking about Easter for several days. Today, on the menu board was a note, “Easter egg coloring today, 1530 in the mess!” Tom F. and I were certainly up for that. We made quite a mess in the mess. Most of the scientists were still asleep but many of the crew wandered in to decorate an egg or two.
Easter candy Easter candy
Saturday evening, Patty gave a presentation in the library for the crew. She had a PowerPoint presentation, maps and mud to describe the nature of her studies of subduction at the Mariana Trench. A large group of interested seamen attended. They have been following our work and know a lot about the geology of this region. You can’t help but get interested in geology when you are surrounded by enthusiastic geologists.
Decorating eggs Decorating eggs: Parker, Logan, Charlie, and Linda with Soupy, the Easter Bat, hanging out in the mess.

Soupy the Easter Bat, dressed as a bunny, delivered the candies to the mess Sunday morning and then hung out for a while, literally. Patty had the foresight to bring candy which she wrapped in cellophane for everyone on board. It was a nice touch since everyone is a bit homesick around the holidays. CANDY FOR BREAKFAST!

The seas are still rough when we get to Celestial and set the transponders so it’s a full weekend that we can’t use Jason. We plan to continue mapping and sampling with piston cores. The 0500 piston core came back empty so EASTER EGGS FOR LUNCH!
Easter eggs Easter eggs

A second piston core on Celestial later that day brought up 2 rocks that fit perfectly in the core pipe. They looked like cannon balls and Chris M. referred to them as his Easter eggs. There was enough sediment inside to get a few samples for analyses.

EASTER DEVILED EGGS FOR DINNER while planning another piston core for midnight.

There is not much traffic in this part of the world. I have seen only 5 other ships since this journey began. One tanker, 2 freighters, a Japanese fishing boat and something I couldn’t identify because it was just lights at night. The ship’s officers, on the bridge, see a ship every day or two, usually a mile or two away—barely visible by eye, but it shows up clearly on radar. People who drive ships like it when traffic stays far away, but I like to get an up close look. The ocean is a big place and seems even bigger when you seen nothing else related to human activity for days on end.

Science Summary - Days 28 & 29, April 19th and 20th

Science Objectives, Day 28:

The twenty-eighth day of the cruise, Apr. 19, we will do a piston core at the summit of Quaker Seamount after which we will recover transponders at Quaker and then survey with EM300 and hydrosweep toward the south to Big Blue Seamount in order to recover the transponders there. Then we will head south toward Celestial Seamount and continue the EM300 and hydrosweep survey. The transit/survey to Celestial Seamount will take all day and the ship’s crew and scientists, using various dyes and pattern distribution and recognition techniques, will engage in traditional activities (Easter-egg decorating) as we anticipate tomorrow morning’s festivities. We should arrive at Celestial Seamount just before midnight and will begin deploying transponders in anticipation of tomorrow’s coring and Jason2/Medea launch.

Science Objectives, Day 29:

The twenty-ninth day of the cruise, Apr. 20, we will set transponders at Celestial Seamount then piston core the summit region in the morning and hope to do a Jason2 lowering on the summit starting later in the day, weather permitting.

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