Deep Profiler Installed and Connected at Axial Base

August 12, 2014

An octopus hanging out next to primary node PN3A at Axial Base, 2600 meters deep. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF, ROPOS Dive R1742, V14.

The Deep Profiler at Axial Base docked in its charging station at the bottom of the mooring. The yellow profiler vehicle climbs up and down the mooring wire between the seafloor and the top buoy, collecting oceanographic data on thin layers in the water column. Photo Credit: NSF-OOI/UW/CSSF, Dive 1742, VISIONS14

An octopus (likely Muusoctopus sp.) smiles for the ROPOS camera at Primary Node 3A at the base of Axial Seamount. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF, V14.

An action shot of the modified McLane Deep Profiler at the Axial Base site crawling up the mooring wire. The yellow profiler vehicle climbs up and down the mooring wire between the seafloor and the top buoy, collecting oceanographic data on thin layers in the water column. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF, Dive 1742, V14.

The end of Leg 2 was an exciting time indeed with the successful installation and connection of the Deep Profiler mooring at the base of Axial Seamount near Primary Node PN3A. Following its recovery back onto the R/V Thompson on August 8, adjustments were made to connection points on the mooring that allowed the ROPOS to get a better “hand hold”. This was the first time that the RSN team had both installed and recovered an OOI cabled Deep Profiler Mooring, and the recovery went exceedingly well. With blue skies and calm seas, subsequent to the minor modifications, the mooring was reinstalled. During ROV Dive R1742, ROPOS easily connected the secondary extension cable that will provide power and communications to the mooring and the instrumented profiling unit (through an inductive link). ROPOS arrived at the mooring just in time to see the wire-crawling profiler descend and dock at the docking station at the base of the mooring. During this dive, ROPOS also tested the Deep Profiler system using the ROPOS/RSN Interface Box and successfully downloaded both science and engineering data. The entire system is now connected to Primary Node PN3A!