The
NeMO project was originally conceived by Bob Embley and he has been the
chief scientist on all previous NeMO cruises with the ROPOS remotely operated
vehicle. He planned this year's expedition also, but was unable to go
to sea. He is sorely missed, and all the scientists and Thompson crew
look forward to sailing with him on future NeMO expeditions
The
R/V Thompsopn departed Astoria at 0915 Pacific Standard Time (PST). We
are presently en route to Axial Volcano where we will continue the time-series
investigations that have occurred on a yearly basis following the eruption
of Axial in 1998. We will be recovering instruments that were deployed
last year, and deploying new experiments for ongoing investigations. Our
first ROPOS dive is planned for mid-day tomorrow.
Various instrument packages, lashed to the
back deck, await deployment at the NeMO Observatory. Bottom to top:
Elevator, RAS, CTD, NeMO Net buoy.
Teacher's Report
Bill Hanshumaker, Educator at Sea
It's
1800 hours (that's 6 o'clock in the evening for you land lubbers), and
it's been an excellent first day at sea. We left Astoria just after nine
this morning, under overcast skies and with the seas slightly building.
After stowing my gear below, I received the first bit of good news; my
cabin isn't directly next to the bow thruster. I was told by previous
educators-at-sea to bring earplugs and be prepared for its noise. The
bow thruster is used to keep the ship on station over a specific location
of seafloor. But fortunately, there weren't as many researchers on board
as usual, so they assigned me a less noisy berth just aft of the thruster.
However, I won't know the noise level for sure until tomorrow when we
are scheduled to arrive at Axial Volcano.
The Columbia River, with
Washington state in the background. Numerous sport and commercial
fishing vessels crowd the area of the Columbia River sandbar at the
mouth of the river.
I
was surprised at the number of recreational fishing vessels at the Astoria
bar. They appeared to be fishing for salmon, probably Chinook, since I
think the coho season was closed last week. The captain had to repeatedly
sound theR/V
Thompson's loud horn to clear a path to the open water. Some
of the fishing vessels were slow to move out of the way, considering the
relatively large size of the Thompson.
After
clearing the bar, the science
crew met below in the library to be briefed on the dive plan
and ship safety procedures. This provided my first opportunity to meet
the researchers. Other than three people from Hatfield Marine Science
Center (HMSC),
most of the science crew is either from Washington or Canada. Some of
the teams have worked together on past voyages, so there was already an
apparent easy comarade. The challenge, however, is trying to accomplish
everything each researcher wants to sample or investigate. Priorities
must be set so that the critical work is accomplished. Bad weather and
equipment failures are just two reasons why each voyage might not accomplish
everything the researchers planned. By setting high/medium/low priorities
to each task, and scheduling the highest priorities first, unexpected
delays aren't as costly to the research agenda.
Keith Shepherd, ROPOS team leader, examines
one of the mechanical arms on the remotely operated vehicle (ROV).
Several other ROPOS sampling devices are visible including the suction
sampler hose and the biobox (lower center of vehicle). The yellow
cylinder at the bottom of the ROV is the pressure sensor that will
be used on the first dive tomorrow.
The
ROPOS remotely
operated vehicle (ROV) will be used extensively during this voyage. Dive
planning includes deciding which equipment packages are to be carried
below. For example, when a vent fluid sampling dive takes place the ROPOS
team must first remove the bio-box to make room for the Hot Fluid Sampler
(HFS). The HFS collects hot fluid samples using various types of filters,
which will later be analyzed on board and back on land. The equipment
packages can be swapped out between dives.
Other instrument packages are lashed down on the deck, until time for
deployment. The largest is a surface buoy, central to the
NeMO Net system. The NeMO Net is a state-of-the-art communication
system that links researchers on land to instruments on the seafloor.
The NeMONet buoy will be deployed above the mid-caldera of Axial Volcano.
An acoustic modem links seafloor instruments to the surface buoy and then
data can be relayed to shore by satellite. NOAA researchers at University
of Washington and Pacific Marine Environmental Lab (PMEL) will then have
two-way communication with two interactive fluid samplers (called RAS's)
and a bottom pressure recorder (BPR). Other researchers are preparing
their instrument packages for deployment during this brief, two-week voyage.
As our planned transit time is 24-26 hours, I should be sharing tomorrow's
log entry with you on station at Axial Volcano, 300 miles offshore.
