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Teacher
Logbook:
Tuesday, July 25, 2000
Carol's
Observations
I couldn't believe my eyes when I woke up at 5:45 this morning and peaked
out the porthole. There were small, pink, fluffy cumulus clouds at sunrise.
A beautiful day after several days of gray stratus clouds with little
sun and some light rain. The 6-foot swell late yesterday calmed down during
the night to a 4-foot swell. When the ship is moving at 13 knots you notice
the swells more than when the ship is conducting a tow-yo at 1.5 knots.
You also feel the waves more when they come in toward the side of the
ship.
People are working around
the clock. As soon as the CTD unit is on deck, samples are taken and the
nisken bottles are removed and set in the racks. While the new water samples
are filtered, new niskn bottles are strapped onto the CTD frame. There
are just two metal bands to hold each bottle in place. This is something
that I help with.
This morning, when I looked
at the real time graph on the computer screen, I knew that the "fish"
had been replaced. Yesterday's wide green graph line was much thinner
today. The fix worked. I have learned that one has to be prepared for
the unexpected when working at sea.
Join us tomorrow as we
start mapping and sampling along the Cleft segment of the Juan de Fuca
Ridge. This area is long an narrow and the seafloor is moving apart. Part
is moving toward Japan and the other part is headed for North America!
Will the plumes still be active? Join me tomorrow.
Carol
Mary Beth's
Observations
As Dr. Baker
mentioned earlier, activity on the ship did seem to calm down as repairs
were made to the "fish" portion of the CTD. The scientists are sitting
back and relaxing by taking in a movie, playing ping pong in the ship's
main laboratory or catching up on email to family and friends back on
shore. I have been busy exploring the ship looking for interesting pieces
of equipment on board. Today I am featuring the A-Frame hoist located
on the fantail of the ship. The fantail is the very back of the ship.
The A-Frame is used to deploy and recover moorings and buoys from the
ocean floor. Can you see the big pulleys located at the top of the A-Frame?
These pulleys help the deck crew to safely maneuver the heavy equipment
on and off the ship. The entire A-Frame can be raised and lowered using
hydraulic lifts. It is an impressive piece of machinery. We will be using
the A-Frame when we return to the Axial Volcano in a few days. We will
be deploying the moorings we recovered earlier in the trip.
The weather is beautiful
out at sea today. When the waves are smaller and the sun is out it is
much easier to work on deck. If the weather is too cold or the sea is
too rough, the scientists will bring the CTD into a garage to work on.
This takes time and slows data collection. We are all appreciative of
good weather when we are out at sea. Look for a new piece of machinery
to be featured tomorrow in my report! See you tomorrow!
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