The NeMO Net buoy is deployed over the side of the Thompson. The deployment was the final task of the NeMO 2002 cruise.

NeMO NET is deployed

While we waited for the weather to calm down, the Chief Scientist made the tough decision regarding the work we could safely undertake in the mean time. Despite the rough seas, we were able to retrieve and deploy a few moorings that will give us information about the water, temperature, and currents in the area where they are positioned.

We were also able to deploy a very important piece of equipment known as the NeMO NET buoy. It weighs 4.2 tons, is 3 meters tall, 3 meters in diameter and houses two satellite links and two acoustic modems. An acoustic modem is like the modem on your computer, but it transfers information with sound instead of electricity. The anchor that holds the buoy in place consists of eight railroad wheels, weighing 6,800 pounds all together. What a way to recycle! This giant piece of equipment took up the entire starboard aft quarter of the fantail, and was quite a handful for the crew to deploy, especially in these swells. It required at least four deck hands to hold tag lines to steady the buoy before the crane operator was able to bring it up and over the side of the ship for deployment. The deployment of this piece of equipment is so important because it serves as the first interactive relay station between shore and the seafloor where instruments had been positioned on the bottom by ROPOS. Through NeMO NET, scientists can use their computers on shore to remotely make requests for water samples and information (such as temperature and pressure changes) from two of the RAS (Remote Access Sampler) instruments and one BPR (Bottom Pressure Recorder). The computerized request travels via satellite to the NeMO NET buoy and then is sent down to the equipment on the seafloor via the acoustic modems. The information gathered through NeMO NET will be posted as a link on the NeMO website so that scientists can interpret the data as it comes back to shore.

The RAS interactive fluid sampler in position at Virgin vent. The tripod, positioned to the left of the RAS, acts as the fluid intake and measures the temperature of the vent fluid.

A special feature of NeMO NET is that it also provides scientists the opportunity to monitor and react to Axial Volcano in "real-time". Back at the marine lab, scientists can detect earthquakes by analyzing data that is shared with them by the US Navy's Sound Surveillance System called SOSUS. For this group of scientists, being able to listen to events on the seafloor is especially important because they can triangulate to the sound, find the source of it and without even launching a ship they can react from shore. For example, if they hear through SOSUS that an event is occurring, they can send a message to the RAS or the BPR to collect samples during the event. How exciting! Last night, Dr. David Butterfield informed me that the first attempt to communicate with the RAS and the BPR through the newly installed buoy was a success. His group was able to make the first remote request for RAS to take a water sample - hooray!

Visitors at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport Oregon ask, "What
are the results of the pressure tests you did a few days ago? Are we headed
for an earthquake?"

Before we can obtain any results from the pressure sensor data collected at
Axial Volcano, Dr. Chadwick must take it back to his lab in Newport and
analyze it. He says, "Yes! We are definitely headed for another volcanic
eruption because Axial is an active volcano and is sure to erupt again. But
knowing exactly when it will happen is another question." Trying to
understand the circumstances that make an area ripe for an eruption is one
of the reasons we undertake time-series studies like the ones being
conducted at the New Millennium Observatory. Hopefully the pressure data
will show whether Axial's summit is inflating or not and at what rate. This
in turn will tell us if magma is accumulating underground in preparation for
its next eruption.

This brings to a close our expedition to Axial Volcano and NeMO for this
year. From here we will be transferring a few personnel and then heading for Explorer Ridge where we will be making more dives with ROPOS and exploring a little known
hydrothermal vent site named Magic Mountain. If you'd like to follow our
adventures there during July 24th through August 5th, please link to NOAA's
Ocean Exploration web site:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/02fire/
Thanks for your interest in our work at NeMO this year!