What's Happening Today - Nov. 23

 It's crunch time... Too much to do and not enough time to do it, even though we've been at this for nearly three weeks. All the terrific data we've been collecting is, as usual, posing more puzzles to solve and we're scrambling to get as much information as possible to use for our research before we have to leave for home on Dec 1st.

ABE Dive #57 went into "Bonus Time" this evening, meaning that it covered more ground than we had expected staying down just about 24 hours. We expect it up at the surface just after midnight. Check out the amazing maps in the Preliminary Data Section. Early this morning we did another Towed Camera 'THING' run - #2 for those that are counting. Again, the system worked like a charm collecting spectacular digital photos of the sheet flows that issue from the western rim of the axial trough near 9° 28'N. Just to top it off, Andy Billings came up with an ingenious design to test a rock corer that we're working on together. It's explained in the photos below.

We're going to put the DSL-120A sonar system in again early tomorrow morning to collect a bit more data in the 9° 35'-26'N area to fill in some gaps and to run a cross line that will help us produce phase-bathymetry from the sonar data.

To top off a very productive day, we also did 4 rock cores on, and just to the side, of a small mound of what we suspect are pillow lavas 2 kilometers east of the ridge axis.

More fun tomorrow.

Best Regards,

Dan Fornari

I can't help myself... I had to first show this map that was produced using Imagenex micro-bathymetry data from ABE. Dana Yoerger processed the data and Maurice Tivey made the image. It shows what those of us working in this area for the past 10 years have wanted. A detailed micro-bathymetry map that would allow us to relate all the volcanic, hydrothermal and biological features we've been studying. The contour interval is 0.5 meters. The axial trough floor is green colored and runs down the axis which is colored in reds and whites (white areas are shallowest). Color bar on right shows depth range in meters.

Maurice Tivey wishes his daughter Kristen a very Happy Birthday!

Jim McGill, an Able Seaman, driving the hydrowinch today during the camera recovery.

Christina Courcier, one of the SSSG techs, standing-by to help recover the Towed Camera THING.

One of the 'squish' cups that went down to the seafloor - 2600 meters - today on the camera system. This is before it was squished.

This is after it was squished!

The rock coring device that Andy Billings invented. We wanted to test the shape and ability of this type of corer head for another grant that Dan Fornari is working on. Andy rigged up the head, which consists of a series of steel disks, like a layer cake, that was coated with surfboard wax. It weighs about 8 pounds in water. Inside the plastic cup above the core head, is heavy duty monofilament fishing line that attaches the head to the shackel on the frame (at left). The drop mechanism is shown in the next photo and consists of a salt-disk. This is designed to dissolve in seawater, so that when the disk dissolves the weight falls. It fell about 38 minutes after we put the camera in the water. We know because of when it appeared in the photos.

This is the view inside the cup above the core head. The yellow disk is the salt disk that is keeping the weight from falling. Congratulations Andy on a very ingenious design.

The camera corer after recovery. The black bits are basaltic glass recovered from the lava flow the camera imaged at the end of the lowering.

Dan Fornari (left) and Andy Billings in front of the Towed Camera THING early this morning before launch.

Launching the camera this morning. Andy Billings (left) and Dan Fornari (right) are tending the tag lines. Dave Sims is directing the launch.

The camera being recovered around lunch time today. The white bag is holding the cups that have been squished.