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Researchers | ||||||||||||
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Leg 6 Researchers Click on any name below to read an interview. (Back to Main Researcher Page)
What
is your role on this cruise? What
are your primary goals? What
do you expect to find? Long
answer: The canyons offshore California have formed in an environment
formerly dominated by compression and subduction, and currently dominated
by strike slip faulting. The canyons offshore Hawaii have formed on active
or recently active volcanic islands. The canyons in the Gulf of California
have formed on a rifted margin. So, the tectonic environment of these
canyons is substantially
different from those we've already studied. Will this be reflected in
major differences in canyon morphology and processes? That's what we want
to know, and we can't predict the answers. What
is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise? Least
favorite: being seasick. Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did
you become one? I always wanted to be a scientist, even before I knew what it meant. My undergraduate degree was in Physics, which is basic to many fields of science. As an undergraduate, I tried reading scientific journals in the library. I found the Geophysics journals both understandable and interesting. As a junior, I applied for summer internships at several institutions. I wound up spending the summer at the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University working on bathymetry and heat flow in small ocean basins. Liking the subject, I wound up applying to graduate schools to study Marine Geophysics. I went to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography rather than to Lamont, but five years later I went back to Lamont for my first real job. Alexandra
Chee
(top of
page) Dr. Michael S. Foster
(top of
page) What
are my primary goals? What
do I expect to find? Favorite
part of research cruises? Least
favorite part of research cruises? Why
did I decide to become a scientist? How
did I become a scientist? Gary Greene
(top of
page)
Rendy Keaten
(top of
page) What is your
role on this cruise? For each sample, the
notes include: the type of sample (core, rock, push core, or sediment
scoop), sample number, location the sample is placed onboard the ROV Tiburon
(along with a small sketch if it's a rock), depth of the site, time code
on the recording video, and GMT time. We do this so when the ROV comes
onboard the ship, we can get each rock correlated with a sample number as
we unload it. We also refer to the dive logs later to recall the sample
information. As the samples are
unloaded from the ROV, the wet lab gets very busy. The main focus is to
get chemical composition of the water in mud samples. To do this, we have
to get the mud samples processing so the pore fluids aren't contaminated
by ambient water and atmosphere. We split the cores and put mud sections
in pressure squeezers to collect the water. The water samples are then
taken to the chemistry van to be analyzed onboard by Bill Ussler. After the rock
samples come onboard, we wash, measure, and photograph them right away.
When we do two dives in one day, this has to get done quickly so we have
room to work with the next set of samples. We also cut rock slabs onboard
for microscope thin sections and, as soon as, they dry we pack them to be
shipped back to MBARI. What are your
primary goals? What do you
expect to find? What is your
favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise? Why did you decide to become a
scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
What
is your role on this cruise? What
are your primary goals? What
do you expect to find? What
is your favorite/least favorite part of e research cruise? Why
did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How
did you become one?
Charlie Paull (top of
page)
Debra Stakes What
is your role on this cruise? After
the cruise, my role will change to that of a geochemist working on the
mineralogy, petrology and chemistry of the sulfide chimneys that are
collected. My specialty will be to collect information on both mineral
chemistry and isotopic compositions of sulfur, oxygen and carbon. What
are your primary goals? Of
course the most primary goal is for the entire scientific party to be
successful. This means also collecting sediments and fluids for different
but comparative studies. What
do you expect to find? What
is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise? My
favorite part of the cruise is when we finally set sail. The planning is
finally over and we can just focus on each dive and each job at hand. When
you are at sea life becomes an intense but relatively uncomplicated
routine of managing the science program, archiving the samples and
planning each days work. And
the most fun part is always celebrating your successes upon the return
into port. Why
did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc.? How
did you become one? Margaret K. (Meg)
Tivey (top of
page) What
is your role on this cruise? What
are your primary goals? These goals will be attained by identifying microbial
populations that inhabit well-constrained temperature and compositional
domains within the walls of newly formed and existing chimneys.
Temperature within the walls of newly formed chimneys will be monitored
using thermocouple arrays that are enveloped during chimney growth. The
new chimneys will subsequently be recovered and the solid material in the
immediate vicinity of each thermocouple used for enrichment cultures,
molecular phylogenetic approaches, and fluorescent in situ hybridization
with 16S rRNA-specific probes, while splits of the same material will be
fully characterized with respect to their mineralogic, chemical, and
isotopic composition. My focus is on looking at the temperature records, and,
working with Debra and Randy, characterizing the mineralogic, chemical,
and isotopic composition of the chimney material. Vent fluids delivering
nutrients and chemical energy from deep-seated subsurface reaction zones
to the seafloor will be analyzed using a comprehensive analytical plan
that involves quantitative determination of the abundance of aqueous
organic, inorganic, and gaseous species. What
do you expect to find? What
is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise? The fluid samplers have been modified, the thermocouple
arrays are a new design, and the inductively coupled link is being used on
every dive and needs to work on every dive or else we cannot communicate
with the instruments. We'll also be working in a complex environment. It
would be hard enough to plan if we knew exactly what the vent orifices
looked like where we plan to put equipment. Instead, we have to try to be
flexible so that the instruments could sit in a number of places. My favorite part is during
the cruise. Once you're out there on the ship, you just work with what you
have. If all your plans fall apart, then you wing it. Everyone works
together to get the best product possible with what we have. Why
did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc.? How
did you become one? Bill
Ussler What
is your role on this cruise? My primary responsibility is the operation of our portable chemistry lab van. This 16-foot-long custom-built container contains a complete analytical laboratory for the analysis of the fluids and gases contained in marine sediments. There are 3 gas chromatographs configured to analyze methane and the low-molecular hydrocarbon gases ethane, propane, butane, and pentane, dissolved carbon dioxide, and dissolved hydrogen sulfide. Two ion chromatographs comprise a system to analyze dissolved cations (sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, strontium, and ammonium) and anions (chloride, bromide, and sulfate) in sea water and pore waters extracted from sediment cores. I will also collect and analyze large volume water samples for the concentration of radium and radon isotopes which can be used to trace fluid circulation through seafloor sediments. What
are your primary goals? My
main focus on this expedition is determining the chemistry of fluids and
gases contained in surface sediments and ocean waters within and adjacent
to the Guaymas Basin. What
do you expect to find? Because
the seafloor of the Guaymas Basin is a methane-rich environment, our
studies will focus on the geochemistry and microbiology of methane
production and its anaerobic consumption. There are large temperature
differences across the basin seafloor, and we expect to see comparable
spatial differences in the amounts of methane, dissolved inorganic carbon,
sulfate, and hydrogen sulfide, and in their stable isotopic values,
coupled with changes in the composition of sub-seafloor microbial
communities. What
is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise? My
favorite part of any research cruise is the discovery of new and
interesting facts about the ocean. My least favorite parts are finalizing
all the important details necessary for packing the equipment and
supplies; and feeling seasick while at sea. Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one? I
have had a long-standing interest in the sciences since childhood,
especially chemistry and geology. Becoming a scientist requires
persistence, adaptability, inquisitiveness, and a willingness to learn and
do many, often mundane, tasks. Tenacity combined with many years of formal
education has allowed me to pursue a rewarding career in the Earth
Sciences. I have two suggestions for future ocean scientists: 1. obtain an undergraduate degree in one of the core sciences (chemistry, physics, or biology) in preparation for graduate work in the marine sciences; and 2. develop technical and engineering skills that can be applied to the development of new techniques and instrumentation.
Jorge Ledesma Vazquez (top of
page)
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