Teacher
Logbook:
Sunday, July 23, 2000
Carol's
Observations
Today has really
been interesting. We did a tow-yo operation that took over 9 hours. During
the operation there is nothing to see from the deck but a wire leading
from the winch into the water. The ship is moving at 1.5 knots, but it
feels as if we are standing still. I only see the sky meeting the sea
as I look out across the water. There are no land features to sight on
to judge movement. It is in the scientific computer room that we can trace
the real time progress of the CTD unit as it "sawtooth's" through the
water. The monitor shows several graph lines that outline a plume, the
temperature and the depth of the CTD unit. It is a delicate operation
to use the graph view to keep the CTD high enough above the seafloor so
that it doesn't crash into the bottom. The scientists collect the data
now and do all the analysis work back on land. Being on the ship has made
me aware of the difficulty of working at sea. It is a challenge to keep
the seawater from gumming up the equipment. The equipment is rinsed with
fresh water made by the ship to prevent gumming. Today's highlight has
been working with the scientists to attach the niskin bottles to the CTD
unit.
Join me at this site tomorrow
for new adventures.
Carol
Mary Beth's
Observations
Last
night I had the opportunity to work closely with the scientists in charge
of deploying the CTD unit. It is amazing how many different scientists
used the water and data collected by the CTD. Scientist collected water
to test pH. Others use the water to look for submicroscopic bacteria,
often found in abundance near the plumes. Other scientists are filtering
for the presence of approximately 20 different elements. The quantity
of data collected is so great, most of the analysis is done back on shore.
Much of the remainder of the cruise will focus on making CTD casts and
tows in various areas around the Axial Volcano. Scientists are comparing
this years results to the data collected several years ago at this same
sight. Today was my first day on the treadmill out at sea. The Ronald
H. Brown has a workout room located on the lowest deck of the ship. The
room is placed low in the ship to minimize the effect of rolling and pitching.
You still must hang onto the handrails while you are on the treadmill
or it is easy to fall off as you go over a wave. Maybe tomorrow I will
try to the bike!
Stay tuned for more updates
tomorrow!
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