1045: Bottom visibility was too poor to work at the shelf site, so we've transited back out to the Endurance Array Offshore location and are about half way through the deployment of the deep profiler mooring. We expect to complete this mooring deployment by mid-afternoon, followed by a Jason dive to plug in the docking station.
August 25, 2017
1630: We recovered the deep profiler mooring at Endurance Array Offshore around 1300 today and we've just completed our transit to the Endurance Array Shelf site, located 12 miles west of Newport, Oregon. We will be diving within the hour to replace a zooplankton sonar at 80 m depth, followed by a separate dive to swap a Benthic Experiment Package. Both dives will be dependent on good visibility once Jason reaches the seafloor.
August 24, 2017
1400: We finished the Axial Base deep profiler mooring installation early this morning, culminating in Jason dive J2-1008 to plug in the docking station at the base of the mooring. APL engineers report that the crawler has begun its first full water column profile (200m – 2620 m depth) and sending data back to shore. We began our transit towards Offshore Endurance Array at 0500 this morning and our ETA on site is 0100 August 24 (PDT). We will begin by diving to unplug the existing deep profiler mooring, then begin the ~12 hour mooring recovery process.
August 23, 2017
1515: The International District dive was completed mid-morning, with all instruments streaming data back to shore. We've transited 12 miles to the south west of Axial Caldera and have just begun deploying the deep profiler mooring. Our live stream is back up and running, so watch along as the mooring team from the Applied Physics Lab works through the afternoon and evening. Tomorrow morning we will dive to the base of the mooring to connect the profiler docking station.
August 22, 2017
2245: We have just begin our dive at International District. We'll be deploying two new vent probes during this dive, as well as positioning the mass spectrometer intake and repositioning the digital still camera. We've been having technical difficulties with the live stream; please check back soon for live video from the Revelle and Jason.
1450: We have just completed the 24 hour transit from Newport to Axial Caldera and are preparing to dive on Ashes hydrothermal vent field. During the upcoming Jason dive J2-1006, the HD camera at Mushroom will be repositioned to improve visibility within the camera's field of view. We will be on bottom at this site around 1615 (PDT). After completing operations at Ashes, we will reposition the ship 4 km to the southeast and begin work at the International District, where vent probes will be deployed at Escargot, Diva and Tiny Towers.
August 21, 2017
1200: We have arrived at the Newport NOAA dock for Jason winch repairs and to load for leg 3. We will depart on the morning of the 20th, in time to see the solar eclipse above Axial seamount.
August 17, 2017
1845: Apologies for the video downtime. There was a technical issue with the Jason winch that prevented us from diving – we are now steaming into Newport Oregon for repairs and will resume the expedition on August 20 when we will return to Axial Seamount, as well as the Oregon Offshore and Shelf sites.
August 16, 2017
2330: Jason now diving in the International District Hydrothermal Field – will recover the mass spectrometer, organize instruments and cables now installed for recovery on a follow-on dive.
1315: Jason about ready to dive (J2-1003) again into the ASHES vent field for its final dive at this work site. The vehicle will deploy a new bottom pressure-tilt instrument to measure inflation and deflation of the volcano and a new CTD to measure water properties. We will also move a 3D thermistor array into a diffuse flow site for temperature measurements, coupled with an osmotic vent fluid sampler.
August 14, 2017
1810: Jason is in the water – should take ~ 1 hr to reach the seafloor and vent field at 1500 m water depth (~5000 ft).
1645: We have arrived on station at Axial Caldera and are making final preparations to dive on Ashes vent field at 18:30 (PDT). During dive J2-1001 we will be replacing a high definition video camera at the base of Mushroom, a 4 m-tall chimney near the western wall of the caldera. We will also conduct the following two dives at this site to replace a junction box and deploy a bottom pressure and tilt sensor. We will then head 3 km to the east on Monday afternoon and conduct a series of dives at the International District.
0830: Continuing our steam to Axial Seamount, big rolling waves and ride "bumpy".
August 13, 2017
2100: Steaming to Axial Seamount – should arrive ~1300 (local) tomorrow. Will install the HD camera at the Mushroom vent in the ASHES hydrothermal field.
0930: We finished up the deployment of benthic fluid flow meters at Southern Hydrate Ridge early this morning and have now arrived at Slope Base, 64 miles west of Newport, Oregon. Jason is just now beginning a 3000 m descent to the seafloor to swap out an instrument that measures variations in pressure and electric fields to monitor water mass transport at the base of the continental slope. It will take 2 hours to reach the seafloor. At the end of this dive, we'll begin the ~19 hour transit to Axial Base.
August 12, 2017
1800: Finishing up installation of digital still camera at Einsteins' Grotto, then will have one more dive to install the flow meters and osmo sampler later tonight.
1030: We have just entered the water for dive J2-998 at Southern Hydrate Ridge. First up during this dive, we will swap out a seafloor current meter and a seafloor pressure sensor, before moving on to Einstein's Grotto. This vigorously-venting seep is home to an underwater mass spectrometer (swapped during the previous dive), a digital still camera (to be swapped during this dive), and three different fluid flow meters (to be swapped during the next dive). We expect dive J2-998 to last 4-5 hours, followed by a 1-2 hour turn around time.
0255: Jason is now diving at Southern Hydrate RIdge (J2-997). This dive will switch out the cabled mass spectrometer, followed by a dive to recover and reinstall the digitial still camera. The final dive for this series will be to recover and install three benthic flow meters and an osmo sampler to sample fluids in the bacterial mats.
August 11, 2017
1905: Jason dive still on hold after power failure. Expect to hear soon when the vehicle will go back into the water.
1545: Issue with Jason, so vehicle was recovered for evaluation. Hoping to go back into the water in a couple hrs to recover the elevator with cables in it. Should be a quick dive involving placing a strap across the elevator/cables, latching in and recovering.
0815: We are halfway through Jason Dive J2-995 to replace a 200 m-long cable that runs between the deep profiler mooring and a junction box at Endurance Array Offshore. At the end of this dive, we will transit 17 miles northwest to Southern Hydrate Ridge for the deployment of fluid flow meters, a mass spectrometer and a digital still camera.
August 10, 2017
2255: Arrived at the Oregon Offshore site and about to go into the water for Jason Dive J2-994 with the Bethic Experiment Package beneath the vehicle.
2030: After two dive attempts, we have decided to move on to our next dive site (Endurance Offshore), located 42 miles west of Newport, Oregon. Visibility was too poor to conduct operations at our shallow water site due to high currents and high levels of productivity. It was hard to see more than half a meter, which makes deploying instruments extremely difficult. At Endurance Offshore, we will be swapping out a Benthic Experiment Package (BEP) and a 200 m-long cable that connects the deep profiler mooring and the primary infrastructure. We expect to arrive on station around 2230 (PDT), with the first dive occurring shortly thereafter.
1130: Jason Dive J2-992 will begin at 1200 to recover and replace the Benthic Experiment Platform at the Oregon Shelf site in 80 m water depth. Seas are like a pond.
0910: The R/V Revelle has pulled away from the NOAA dock in Newport for the beginning of Leg 2. The focus of this leg will be to replace seafloor instrumentation along the Oregon margin and Axial seamount, with the first dive occurring 12 miles west of Newport. We'll be replacing a Benthic Experiment Package (BEP) at 80 m depth, along with a zooplankton sonar and a digital still camera. In previous years, visibility has been low at this site due to high currents and phytoplankton blooms, which makes operations tricky. Watch the live stream around noon (PDT) today for the first of three dives at this site.
August 9, 2017
0845: We've arrived at the NOAA dock in Newport for a two-night port stop at the end of Leg 1. We'll be offloading instruments recovered during the last one and a half weeks, loading on new instruments to deploy during Leg 2, and welcoming onboard a new cohort of undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Washington and Western Washington University. The R/V Revelle will head back out to sea on Thursday morning (8/9). Watch the live stream above to follow along as we prepare the ship for her next voyage!
August 7, 2017
1550: Jason Dive J2-991 taking brushes down to the Deep Profiler Mooring to clean the cabled so that the vehicle can traverse upward. Perhaps a CTD, then will make our way slowly to the Newport channel entrance for arrival tomorrow morning at the dock.
August 6, 2017
1430: Jason Dive J2-988 taking a Deep Profiler vehicle down to install on the Deep Profiler Mooring, and to recover a vehicle that was installed in 2016.
0930: We are still working at the Oregon Offshore Site and will dive after lunch today. Jason is mounting a holder for the Deep Profiler vehicles that will be used to recover one that is now on the mooring and install the other one.
August 5, 2017:
1410: We have arrived at the Oregon Offshore site (600 m water depth and 40 west of Newport, OR) and will be diving shortly to replace the low voltage node LV01C.
1120: With Dive J2-984, we have completed our tasks at the Slope Base Site and we are beginning our transit to the Oregon Offshore site. There we will turn the LV01C junction box that is on its side, turn the digital still camera, and replace the Deep Profiler vehicle – a task we have not done before with Jason.
0845: The weather conditions have improved and we are diving now on the Shallow Profiler Mooring at Slope Base. At the end of the last dive (J2-984), the ship was fighting opposing winds, swell and currents, making for a tricky recovery with Jason. The swell has dropped to 1 m, winds are down to 6 knots, and the current is less than a knot out of the east. During this dive, we'll place the science pod on the 200 m platform, then connect all instruments to the junction box for immediate data streaming back to shore. After this dive is complete we'll begin a 2 hour transit to Endurance Offshore.
August 4, 2017
2150: We are on a dive hold due to large swells and strong currents. Are re-evaluating dive conditions every 4 hours. We completed three dives today at the Shallow Profiler Mooring at Slope Base. The first one, J2-982, cut the cable on the Shallow Profiler Science Pod – it was recovered on deck. Dive J2-983 recovered the Platform Interface Assembly, and dive J2-984 installed the platform Interface Assembly and recovered the winched Shallow Profiler Platform. There was a strong snap load on the cable on recovery and very strong currents made for a difficult vehicle recovery. Hence, we are on hold for now. The next dive J2-985 will be to install the Winched Shallow Profiler
0815: The Revelle is at the Slope Base site. A CTD is about to come on deck and we expect to dive with Jason at ~0900 (J2-982). This will be a quick dive to use the buzz saw on the front of Jason to cut the cable on the Shallow Profiler Science Pod at ~ 50 m above the platform, 150 m depth.
August 3, 2017
1030: We arrived at Slope Base with seas too rough to conduct work with a platform underneath. We are steaming to Southern Hydrate Ridge (~2 hrs) in the hope that seas will flatten a bit. We will conduct a documentary dive (J2-981), weather permitting, to find suitable sites for sonars to be installed next year and to see how active Einstein's Grotto and Smokery Taverns are this year regarding bubble plume emissions.
August 2, 2017
0845: There will be no Jason Dives today. We are at Axial Base and will conduct a verification CTD cast for the Shallow Profiler Mooring instrumentation. The weather is supposed to pick up here and along the margin. We will steam to the Slope Base site, about an 18 hr transit. Weather permitting Jason will dive on the Shallow Profiler Mooring.
August 1, 2017
1530: J2-980 going in the water above the International District Hydrothermal Field. About 45 minutes to the bottom. Will be looking at a new vent site to place instrumentation, the vent El Guapo (350°C fluids), Escargot that hosts a temperature-chlorinity sensor and then take a tour fo the 2011 eruption.
July 31, 2017: Jason Dive 979 International District Hydrothermal Field. The R/V Revelle is steaming to Axial Summit – should arrive ~ 1200. Vehicle will transit ~ 45 minutes to the bottom and begin working at the hgh temperature hot springs.
2330: Jason Dive-978 turning the junction box LJ01A at Axial base. Tomorrow morning a dive to the International District Hydrothermal Field is planned ~0900. 350°C hot springs on the seafloor with dense animal communities.
0915: Jason Dive-974 We arrived at the base of Axial Seamount in the early morning. Jason is in the water at the Shallow Profiler Mooring. The vehicle just cut the cable of the Science Pod on the mooring becasue it was tangled and could not be drawn into the docking station. The Science Pod rose very rapidly to the surface (400 lbs buoyancy)
July 30, 2017:
1020: There is a hockle in the Jason tether and it will take 12 hours to reterminate it. The next operation must be done in daylight, so we are using the time to transit to Axial Base where we will turn the winched Shallow Profiler and the Platform Interface Assembly. It is ~ 18 hour transit to the volcano, Jason operations will start at first light tomorrow.
July 29, 2017
0015: Jason Dive J2-973 – The Revelle will arrive at the Slope Base site ~0015 for Jason Dive J2-973. Jason will turn the LJ01A junction box. This was chosen so that the shallow profiler science pod could be recovered in daylight since the connecting cable will need to be severed so that it can rise to the surface and be recovered by boat.
2120: Jason Dive J2-972 is nearly complete with installation of the winched science pod.
1700: Jason Dive J2-972 underway to install winched Shallow Profiler. Following this dive, the R/V Revelle will transit ~3 hrs to the Slope Base site to first turn the LJ01A junction box, then switch out the two platforms on the Shallow Profiler Mooring.
1800: Jason Dive J2-972 to install the winched science pod on the Shallow Profiler Mooring. This dive will finish the work on the mooring for the year.
1555: Jason is coming up after a rapid dive in which the Platform Interface Assembly was reinstalled on the 200 m deep mooring and the winched science pod was latched beneath the vehicle for recovery.
1300: Jason Dive J2-971 scheduled to begin at ~ 1500 to install the PIA at the Oregon Offshore Site.
0900: Dive J2-971 on hold until noon to fix the latching mechanism on the lifting sled of Jason.
0100: Dive J2-971 on hold to fix the latching mechanism on the lifting sled of Jason.
July 28, 2017
2300: Jason Dive J2-971 one hold to trouble shoot latching mechanism on the vehicle used to latch into the Cabled Array platforms. The focus on this next dive will be to deploy the Platform Interface Assembly at the Oregon Offshore Site and recover the winched shallow profiler Science Pod (SciP).
2100: Jason on deck
1400: Jason is onsite at Oregon Offshore, putting the transponder pole down. Jason Dive J2-970 in water ~1550, strong currents made latching into the Platform Interface Assembly (PIA) difficult.
1030: The R/V Revelle departed Newport, Oregon to steam to the Oregon Offshore Site arriving ~ 1300. The first Jason dive will be to recover the winched profiler on the Shallow Profiler mooring at a water depth of ~ 200 m. Weather is supposed to be good for ~ 2 days.
July 27, 2017