Leg 1 - Laser Raman Spectroscopy
Chief Scientist - Peter Brewer
July 7 - 21, 2009
This expedition will use in situ laser Raman spectroscopy to study sediment pore-water profiles and clathrate hydrates from Hydrate Ridge and Barkley Canyon. At both sites we will conduct several sampling lines obtaining in situ measurements in the sediments near hydrate outcrops and or actively venting gas vents. A few push-core samples and hydrate gas samples will be collected from each site as well in order to compare collected samples to the in situ measurements. In addition, at Hydrate Ridge we will conduct a gas
replacement experiment where we will study how fast CO2 will substitute for methane in clathrate hydrates at in situ conditions.
Day 16 – Pack it up, move it out…
July 22, 2009
Today is the last day on the ship. We’ve packed up all our gear, it is being loaded into the truck as I write, and we’ll be on our way home soon. Since I have no science to report on today, I thought I would take this opportunity to
Day 15 – Our last dive…
July 21, 2009
We have two tasks remaining for today’s dive: first, we need to complete the gas hydrate decomposition experiment, and second we need to...
Day 14 – Our work at Barkley Canyon is done
July 20, 2009
Most of the tasks that we wanted to do are accomplished. And we are underway to Hydrate Ridge where we have one last dive scheduled. It is a slow relaxing day for science and crew. We take time to catch-up on...
Day 13 – Keith, you’re going to need a bigger dive bag!
July 19, 2009
This is our last dive at Barkley Canyon: most of the tasks that we set out to do have been completed; most of the measurements have been made; only a few tasks remain so we looked forward to a short dive and an easy day. First on our list was...
Day 12 –The Great White Hope…
July 18, 2009
The purpose of this dive is to find a sample of pure/white gas hydrate and obtain a laser Raman spectrum. With this information we will ...
Day 11 –Where no ROV has gone before …
July 17, 2009
Today we will be exploring “blind” in a submarine canyon where no ROV has gone before. We begin the dive with great expectations however ...
Day 10 –Operation Deep Probe…
July 16, 2009
Unlike yesterday’s dive plan where we attempted to visit as many gas hydrate mounds as time allowed and to poke each in hopes of finding free gas or oil, today’s dive plan was to ...
Day 9 – Here a mound, there a mound, everywhere a mound, mound…
July 15, 2009
Before the cruise, we asked Dave Caress to take a look at the high resolution topographic data he generated from the Mapping AUV survey during the 2006 Barkley Canyon Expedition to see if there were any more mounds besides the ones we had already located. At the time, we thought he might come up with maybe 6 or 8 new targets. Much to our surprise...
Day 8 – Hump Day
July 14, 2009
Traditionally, the middle day of a cruise is known as “Hump Day". For us, this takes on a different meaning today as we arrive on station at Barkley Canyon and begin our search for a special series of...
Day 7 – Hi hoe, hi hoe, it’s off to work we go…
July 13, 2009
Today’s dive objectives were to explore the seafloor in search of a methane hydrate deposit and practice filling the glass hydrate chambers in preparation for our gas substitution experiment. We began by looking at sites we explored in...
Day 6 – Somewhere there is a place for us...
July 12, 2009
Today’s dive objectives were to explore the sea-floor in search of a methane hydrate deposit and practice filling the glass hydrate chambers in preparation for our gas substitution experiment. We began by looking at sites we explored in...
Day 5 – Pitstop in Newport, Oregon...
July 11, 2009
The R/V Western Flyer arrived at the Hatfield Marine Station dock today at 0800. An overcast sky, low clouds and fog with a light drizzle greeted us at the dock...
Day 4 – If it is Friday, then it is time to get to work...
July 10, 2009
A hagfish comes by to inspect our last pore-water measurement of the day. We attributed his haughty attitude to a lack of understanding of the subtleties of marine geochemistry. Or, maybe he just didn’t like the hydrogen sulfide we had stirred up. It is hard to tell with hagfish...
Day 3 – If it is cloudy then this must be Oregon…
July 9, 2009
With our dive site at Hydrate Ridge less than a day’s steam away, preparations to deploy the elevator and launch ROV Ricketts intensified today. Peter Walz spent most of the morning...
Day 2 – The weather started getting rough…
July 8, 2009
During the night the winds increased as anticipated. Unfortunately, this resulted in rougher seas and we were forced to slow down. With all of the banging and bouncing during the night...
Day 1 – We depart…
July 7, 2009
At 12:04 PM the last of the mooring lines was released and we began the slow process of backing-out of our dock slip and heading out of Moss Landing Harbor. Capt Brian Ackerman did a fine job as we...