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| ISU professor Dr. Tony Rathburn ans Abigail Green (from Cal Tech) before their Alvin dive. |
The first Alvin dive of the cruise included ISU professor Dr. Tony Rathburn. We are sampling at a site called Hydrate Ridge. This unique geologic location hosts many different forms of life. The ridge is a topographic high spot underneath the sea formed by the subduction of the Juan de Fuca plate. The study area contains methane seeps, and is of interest due to the unique ecosystems that are found associated with the geochemistry of methane seep habitats. Our particular interests are in the ecology and geochemistry of the forams, which are a major part of these methane seep ecosystems.
During the dive Tony and Abigail explored a large outcropping of rock that was covered with white and orange bacteria that thrive in methane seep habitats. Using Alvin's arms they collected rocks from the methane seep area and from a nearby non-seep environment and placed them in a floating elevator that had been sent down earlier. They then released the weight from the elevator sending it to the surface where it was recovered by the ship and scientists eagerly examined the rocks and the creatures on the rocks as soon as it arrived on the ship. This elevator allows us to recover more samples because there is a limited amount of space on the front basket of Alvin. While the scientists were busy on the ship, Tony and Abigail continued to explore the area and deployed experiments on the seafloor that we plan to recover in about a year from now. They also collected short tubecores of sediment from bacterial mats and clambeds associated with methane seepage. They spent about 6 1/2 hours on the seafloor during their 8hr dive. They brought the sediment samples, additional rocks, and water samples back with them. When they arrived everyone was waiting in anticipation of the samples and commemorating Abigail 's first Alvin dive, which she described as, "the coolest fr**king thing [she] had ever done in her life!".
Everyone was kept busy into the wee hours of the night processing the samples collected that day. In addition night operations included collecting sediment using a multi-core and mapping the area using sonar from the ship. These activities are described in more detail elsewhere in this blog.
During the dive Tony and Abigail explored a large outcropping of rock that was covered with white and orange bacteria that thrive in methane seep habitats. Using Alvin's arms they collected rocks from the methane seep area and from a nearby non-seep environment and placed them in a floating elevator that had been sent down earlier. They then released the weight from the elevator sending it to the surface where it was recovered by the ship and scientists eagerly examined the rocks and the creatures on the rocks as soon as it arrived on the ship. This elevator allows us to recover more samples because there is a limited amount of space on the front basket of Alvin. While the scientists were busy on the ship, Tony and Abigail continued to explore the area and deployed experiments on the seafloor that we plan to recover in about a year from now. They also collected short tubecores of sediment from bacterial mats and clambeds associated with methane seepage. They spent about 6 1/2 hours on the seafloor during their 8hr dive. They brought the sediment samples, additional rocks, and water samples back with them. When they arrived everyone was waiting in anticipation of the samples and commemorating Abigail 's first Alvin dive, which she described as, "the coolest fr**king thing [she] had ever done in her life!".
Everyone was kept busy into the wee hours of the night processing the samples collected that day. In addition night operations included collecting sediment using a multi-core and mapping the area using sonar from the ship. These activities are described in more detail elsewhere in this blog.
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