Tuesday 27 January, 2004

Gulf of Papua

Today was the first real day of work for Leg 3 of Cruise II. Chuck Nittrouer created a tentative schedule for how work will proceed over the next three weeks.

The day started around 0630. Jenna Hill, a graduate student from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and J.P. Walsh, formerly a post-doc at Scripps and now a new assistant professor at East Carolina University, along with three University of Papua New Guinea geology students, Louisa Dira, Ramsey Yehimen and Sarowaget Ruisang Menggenang (Saro for short), worked on the fantail preparing the Chirp or "fish" to be deployed. They are looking at sediment layering on the subaqueous delta clinoform and for channels below the seabed which have been covered up with accumulating sediments. By collaborating with other researchers involved in the MARGINS Source to Sink project they will use this data to evaluate how sediment transport and accumulation in the Gulf of Papua has changed with time (see the Science section).

After the fish is deployed (put in the water), the incoming data must be watched to make sure it is of its best possible quality and to ensure that nothing has gone wrong with the fish or data acquisition.

Waiting
During the time between deployment of the fish and recovery there was/is a lot of waiting, particularly for those not directing involved in the operations (like the students). Jenna and J.P. used this time to go over in detail how the chirp works. They discussed the data being received and explained to the students how to read the computer monitor and paper printouts. Also, they answered questions related to the seismic work. Later during this time, J.P. started teaching a series of commonly used knots, including the square knot, bowline, and trucker's hitch. Knots are a handy thing to know, particularly at sea, where it is important to lash things down so they do not move with the ship's rocking on the sea swell.

Second Watch
When we finished our shift (0600 - 1800), the second watch began. Because it is expensive to operate a ship, time at sea is valuable. Costs for ship operation include not only food and fuel, but also the salaries of all the crew who manage the ship, and these costs are in the thousands of dollars a day. Additionally, there are the salaries for the scientists, staff and students who are involved in the data collection. Therefore, you typically have people standing watch and collecting data around the clock.

The night watch consisted of scientists from the University of Washington, University of South Carolina, and Papua New Guinea. Principle Investigators (PIs), those people who have grants for this research, on this shift include Andrea Ogston, Miguel Goni and Chuck Nittrouer. This shift deployed the CTD, BLISP, box core and multi-core in a cycle throughout the night at an anchor station.

After dinner, Jenna, J.P. and I went to the bow (front) of the ship, and sat on the O2 deck just below the bridge. The night was warm and humid, but after spending the day in the cold air-conditioned lab, it was a welcome change. We stared at the bright constellations overhead and enjoyed a distant lightning show that flashed fiery reds and oranges on the distant horizon.