The R/V Wecoma is also at Axial Volcano as part of the NeMO expedition. Physical oceanographers, lead by chief scientist Ed Baker, are performing CTD casts, toyo's, and recovering/deploying moorings at the volcano. The R/V Ron Brown is located on the eastern edge of the volcano's caldera (over the '98 eruption lava flow), whereas the R/V Wecoma is on the western edge (over ASHES< vent field), a distance of 2.5 kilometers apart.

NOAA Ship Ron Brown/ROV ROPOS
Science News

Science Report - Wednesdayy, July 18, 2001
Ship's position: 45 56.0'/-129 58.9'

After an 8 hour transit from the south Cleft site, the RON BROWN arrived at Axial Volcano early this morning and ROPOS began dive R622 at the Marker 33 site. Marker 33 and nearby Cloud vent are the most robust hydrothermal vent sites on the 1998 lava flow and have been the focus of a lot of our sampling in previous visits. This area was also hydrothermally active before the 1998 eruption with extensive fields of tubeworms that were all overrun by the 1998 lava flow, so it is interesting for us to see how the site has evolved from year to year. The Marker 33 vent has cooled down somewhat from last summer (39C to 19C) but still has vigorous flow and vent animals continue to colonize the area. ROPOS is taking samples with the vent fluid sampler and suction sampler, will be positioning larval traps, larval settlement arrays, and bacterial traps around the vents, and will be picking up and deploying miniature temperature recorders.