Leg 2 of VISIONS16 Comes to an End

July 27, 2016

A 3D temperature (thermistor) array housing 24 sensors rests above a small diffuse flow site a few meters away from the actively venting black smoker edifice called Mushroom in the ASHES hydrothermal field on Axial Seamount. This cabled instrument was designed and built by G. Proskurowski, UW School of Oceanography. Limpets have colonized the frame and cable housing the thermistors. An osmotic fluid sampler is inserted into the diffuse flow site to obtain chemistry coregistered with temperature. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI; V16.

The high definition camera, built by the UW Applied Physics Lab, was reinstalled in 2016 during the VISIONS'16 cruise. The prior camera had been streaming video live to shore for two years. The camera was recovered to clear the outer window of biofouling. The camera is located at the hydrothermal chimney called Mushroom in the ASHES hydrothermal field on Axial Seamount. Video are streamed live from ~5000 ft down and >300 miles offshore onto the Internet 8 times a day. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI; V16.

The ROV Jason ‘looks’ at a hybrid underwater wet-mate connector that connects the high definition camera to a ~ 4 km long extension cabled attached to Primary Node PN3B at the summit of Axial Seamount. This connection provides a 10 Gbs communication path to the terrestrial Internet located ~300 miles to the east. White bacterial mats line fractures in the lava-covered seafloor where diffusely flowing fluids are exiting the seafloor. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI; V16.

A new osmotic fluid sampler is about to be installed in a diffuse flow site hosting a 3D temperature array in the ASHES Hydrothermal Field on the summit of Axial Seamount. Each year, as part of the annual operations and maintenance cruise, a sampler is recovered and a new one installed. Onshore analyses of the entrapped fluids provide insights on the evolution of fluid chemistry in time, in response to changing environmental conditions e.g. earthquakes, temperature, microbial utilization of gases and different elements. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI; V16.

A titanium isobaric gas-tight sampler (IGT) is used to sample fluids with dissolved gases in a high temperature vent on the El Gordo metal sulfide chimney located in the International District Hydrothermal Field at ~ 1500 m water depth on Axial Seamount. The base of the cabled RAS fluid sampler and microbial DNA sampler mooring is in the background. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI; V16.

The cabled digital still camera streams images of Jason (Dive J2-932) live back to shore in real time as the vehicle works at the active hydrothermal vent called 'El Gordo' in the International District Hydrothermal Field – depth is 1500 m, and >300 miles offshore. The hydrothermal fluid sampler, called the RAS, is shown to the left, which allows fluid samples and temperature to be taken for a year. The instrument can be run in "mission mode" where samples are preprogrammed, or in "sponse mode" where missions are interrupted by operators to take samples – such as was done during the eruption of Axial Seamount in 2015. Credit: UW/OOI-NSF/WHOI, V16.

During the 20 hr transit from Slope Base, those who could used the time to catch up on some much needed sleep and to conduct final preparations for what will be an intense few days with seven Jason dives planned. The Sikuliaq arrived at the base of Axial Seamount in the afternoon of July 24th, and completed the turn of the HPIES instrument, followed by a two hour transit to the summit of Axial Seamount. During a series of four dives within the caldera, nine instruments were turned and one medium-powered junction box. Verification gas-tight samples were taken at the Escargot and El Gordo vents, and the mass spectrometer, digital still camera, and remote access fluid and DNA sampler mooring was turned.

It was exciting to work at the hydrothermal vent sites again and observe the changes since last year. For example, a beautiful, small white, anhydrite-rich chimney had sprouted from the orifice at the Escargot chimney, embedding the wand of the temperature-resistivity sensor. The ROV measured 151°C fluids at the area where the hydrothermal ‘vent cap’ had been installed in 2014, hosting the inlet for the remote fluid access sampler, microbial DNA sampler, and mass spectrometer. Shortly thereafter, a vent water sample was taken with the isobaric gas-tight sampler during which the temperature ranged between 175 °C and 185 °C. All tasks were completed at the International District hydrothermal field.

One of the most exciting dives focused on turning of the high definition camera that had been streaming video live from the ASHES hydrothermal field to the terrestrial Internet for two years. During Dive J2-933, the camera installed in 2014, located at the actively venting Mushroom edifice, was unplugged and stored in the elevator for later recovery by Jason. The new camera was installed at nearly the same location. While Jason was observing the installation “live”, the engineering team at the University of Washington Operations Center, located in the School of Oceanography, turned the HD camera on and conducted a series of tests (lights, pan and tilt). There were some fun moments involving Jason ‘observing’ the HD camera (CAMHD) and CAMHD ‘observing’ Jason with live video fed at the speed of light from 5000 ft beneath the oceans’ surface and from >300 miles offshore.

Once all tasks were completed at the vent fields, we had the opportunity to go back to the eruption site where lavas spilled onto the seafloor in April, 2015: the thickest portion of the flow is >400 ft thick, or ~ 2/3 the height of the Space Needle. Through a NOAA-NSF-supported dive focused on recovering a RAS mooring installed at a diffuse flow site on the eruption, we were able to investigate changes in the eruption site over this past year. Most of the areas that had been covered in dense microbial mats, were no longer active, however, localized flow with temperatures of ~11-14°C were measured in small diffuse flow sites issuing from between pillow-lobate flows. At the end of the dive, the RAS mooring was released for recovery at the surface.

The final dive of Leg 2 (J2-937) was back at the International District hydrothermal field. We visited the El Gordo chimney to insure that the vent cap was in a good position for continued year-long sampling at this site. A new diffuse venting site where fluids are issuing directly out of a sheet flow was also examined as a potential site for installation of the mass spectrometer, fluid sampler and camera next year. This site, just south of the Escargot chimney, issues fluids at 94°C from a small area of tubeworms, sulfide worms and limpets with significant flow. The final portion of the dive was a quick trip to the ~ 18 m tall black smoker chimney called El Guapo. Here, close up observations at the summit of the chimney documented boiling fluids – bubbles were very clearly venting at the summit. This dive marked the end of the Jason dives for Leg 2.

During the 27th, weather continued to worsen and so the remaining time was used to conduct CTD casts at both full ocean and shallow depths for instrument verification. The shallow casts were completed while the Science Pod on the Axial Base Shallow Profiler was conducting its mission of rising up and down through the water column. Collected CTD data will be used for follow-on instrument verification. Upon completion of the CTD’s at 1542, the Sikuliaq began its transit to Newport, Oregon arriving at the NOAA dock at 1100 on July 30. The transit was rough with poor seastate and winds of 25-35 knts, with gusts to 40 knts. The team was happy to get to shore and very grateful to the NOAA facility for allowing us to dock at their facility again during the transition from Leg 2 to Leg 3.