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Click for animation of tow-yo
method. |
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The CTD is
towed behind the ship while being cycled through the bottom 200 meters
or so of water where the hydrothermal plumes are located. This is an efficient
strategy for mapping and sampling dispersing neutrally buoyant hydrothermal
plumes because the amount of time the CTD is passing through unaffected
regions of the seawater (i.e. 1000-2000 meters above the plumes) is minimized,
resulting in relatively high density data along the tow track of the ship.
The ship
can typically travel at a speed of about 1-1.5 knots (or 3-4km per hour).
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