Teacher Logbook:
Friday, June 30, 2000 2000 hrs.

Woke up to a beautiful day- sunshine and calm seas. That might be why I didn't notice as many green faces today. We arrived at our first destination, South Cleft, around 10:00 this morning. Lots of rushing around and last minute tinkering for deployment of the acoustic extensometers. These instruments measure rates of sea floor spreading along an ocean ridge. (See today's interview for more info. on extensometers) The Juan de Fuca Ridge averages about 6 cm per year, which doesn't sound like much, but over very long periods of time, a lot of real estate is moved.

The ship's crew used a large crane and lowered six extensometers into the water in a device called a mooring elevator. (See picture) It's used for deployment and retrieval of heavy instruments to and from the sea floor. A railroad car wheel attached to the bottom of the elevator pulled the elevator down to the sea floor 2214 meters below the ship in just 32 minutes.

As soon as the six ROPOS team engineers feel ROPOS is ready, it will dive to the bottom. Since the ship works around the clock, this may take place tonight. After the two-hour descent it will place the extensometers on previously positioned "benchmarks" along the ridge. The submersible is also planned to recover old extensometers full of data, make pressure measurements, deploy and recover Hobos (temperature sensors) from the vent areas, and recover a fluid sampler. What a workhorse! Don't leave home without it.

On a major scientific research project such as NeMO 2000, coordinating the scientific projects is a complicated process that takes lots of communication, cooperation and compromise by the scientists. I sat in on the first daily science meeting today. A representative from each of the groups (microbiologists, macrobiologists, geologists, chemists and engineers) discussed and informed the chief scientist, Dr. Robert Embley, about their priorities for ROPOS's dive schedule. Technical logistical problems seeped through the cracks and surfaced were they were eventually worked out or put off until a later date.

Everyone on the ship is anxious to see the vents on the ROPOS camera monitors. Join me tomorrow for our first look at the deep ocean bottom.

Jeff