NeMO July 24, 2001

Logbook: July 24, 2001

Brown: Gas-tight sampling at T&S Spires
Wecoma: Comparing plumes from 2000 to 2001
Teacher logbooks: Navigation on the bottom; MAPR mapping
Perspective today: Jeff Engebretson, Microbiologist

Science News | Teacher At Sea | Participant Perspective

Cruise Calendar

July-August 2001

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Science News

NOAA Ship Ron Brown - ROV Cruise

image of gas-tight sampler, click for full story

ROPOS dive 626 collected scanning sonar data over the CASM hydrothermal vent field today. These data will be processed on board the ship over the next day or two in order to create a high-resolution (2-m pixel size) bathymetric map of the area. Over the last several years we have used this same sonar to make detailed maps of our main working areas at Axial. The sonar maps help us put the near-bottom views from the ROPOS video cameras into a larger and more meaningful context. The map of CASM will be used when ROPOS returns to the site in a few days. More...

R/V Wecoma - CTD Cruise

We are finding some time now to think about the data we're collecting and compare it to previous year's results. The accompanying figure shows results from two CTD tow-yos along the trend of the 1998 volcanic eruption on the east side of the caldera. Compared to last summer, this year's tow shows that hydrothermal plumes extend over less of the eruption site, have weaker concentrations of hydrothermal particles, and a lower height of rise above the seafloor. More...

Teacher Logbooks

NOAA Ship Ron Brown - Jeff Goodrich

Susan Merle, navigator and research assistant for Bob Embley, has been giddy lately. No, it's not because she's been at sea since June 26th. It's because she finally has acoustic navigation for ROPOS. Our latest dive at the CASM vent field was the first time during this cruise when we've had navigation. It makes getting around on the bottom much easier and puts everyone, especially Susan, in a jolly mood. Good thing we had navigation and found the vents at CASM because they were fantastic. One such vent, named T&S, was named after ROPOS member Keith Shepherd's kids, Trevor and Sarah.
More...

R/V Wecoma - Missy Holzer

What kind of hydrothermal activity can be expected over the next year? That's a question the science crew has set out to explore as they continue their quest to extend their data set into the future. Over the past couple of days a number of moorings with computer operated instruments (MAPR's, MTR's etc.) were deployed in the Axial volcano area. The instruments have been calibrated and set to gather data from the water column every 30 minutes for the next year. More...

Participant Perspective

Interview with Jeff Engebretson
Ecological Microbiologist - Western Washington Univ.

Jeff G: What project are you working on at Axial Volcano?

Jeff E: I'm working with bacterial traps, which are 3 little PVC pipes filled with glass wool with nytex screens on either side to keep out larger organisms that eat bacteria. The idea is to place the bacterial traps on top of a hydrothermal vent for short term (1-2 week) and long term (1-2 year) studies. We'll come back and collect the samples and freeze them on the ship. Once we get to land we start the process of extracting DNA. We acquire the DNA signature through a method called TRFLP (Terminal Restriction Fragmental-length Polymorphism). It's relatively new - so good, clean methods haven't been developed yet. That's what I'm working on.
More...