FeMO3 Dive Cruise 2008
Report Day 03 -- Wednesday 24 September 2008 -- Jason Takes His First Dive
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FeMO3 Dive Cruise 2008 |
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The R/V Thompson reached her station over the summit of Loi’hi late last night. The first task was to send a CTD rosette down to characterize the water column and sample the deep water surrounding Loi’hi’s summit. After the CTD was back on deck the Jason techs began to deploy the acoustic transponders by which Jason is navigated. The transponders are sent to the bottom and then surveyed in with repeated passes of the ship. Once the transponder net is surveyed in Jason and Medea can enter the water.
Medea went into the water first early in the morning followed by Jason and they have been down all day. Real time images from the dive are available on board to anyone with a computer connected to the ship’s network. Scott McCue and I spent some time this morning setting up a digital video recorder for the science camera. It is hoped we can capture some highlights from the dive with in the next few days. Scientists spent the day setting up their labs and preparing equipment for the arrival of the first samples. The electrochemistry lab techs spent the day performing the detailed work needed to prepare the gold, silver and platinum probes for use in instruments to be sent down with Jason.
One surprising thing this morning was the sighting of a shrimp endemic to Loi’hi (meaning that it is found only there). The shrimp has not been seen since an expedition in 2004 and was feared extinct. The shrimp is found around the hydrothermal vents and carries a large cargo of bacteria on its gills; bacteria that presumably gain some energy from the vent water. What is not known is weather the shrimp are deriving any energy from their bacterial hitchhikers.
Jason’s cameras showed no sign of recent eruptions down on Loi’hi, but above, on the flanks of Kilauea less than 20 miles away, plumes of steam and thick “Vog” (Volcanic Fog) reveal where molten lava is flowing into the sea. Yesterday, Jess Deemer, a geology grad student and recent volunteer at the Hawaii Volcano Observatory, had pointed out the bluish tinge to the mist shrouding Kona – today we can see the source of it. Vog is a corrosive mixture of volcanic gasses and water vapor generated by the eruption. One contributor, the steam rising from where lava enters the ocean, can have pH equal to 1, as acidic as stomach acid. Fortunately the trade winds blow the vog southwest away from us.
Shawn Doan onboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson
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