Throughout the expedition, scientists will be posting daily updates. You can find out more about the cruise and the researchers on this website. 
Chief Scientist - Peter Brewer July 9 - 19, 2010 During this first leg of the Southern Expedition, we will be conducting respiration index experiments on marine organisms in the Santa Barbara Basin. The objective is to learn more about the oxygen levels in the water and where marine organisms live in relation to those levels. We will be collecting water samples to measure oxygen, temperature, and salinity levels. We will also be conducting laser Raman studies of pore-water chemistry in the sediments on an asphalt volcano in the Santa Barbara Basin and at active methane gas venting sites and seafloor mounds in the Santa Monica basin. Our laser Raman spectrometer bounces a specially tuned laser beam off of almost any object or substance—solid, liquid, or gas—providing information about that object's chemical composition and molecular structure. This is a much better method for measuring the chemistry of the water in the sediments than collecting a push core, which requires bringing the sediments to the surface, squeezing out the water and then analyzing the chemistry. We will also be conducting preliminary exploratory observations of the seafloor inside the Santa Cruz basin.
Chief Scientist - Chris Scholin
July 22 - 28, 2010 The main objective for this leg of the cruise is to deploy the Deep Sea Environmental Sample Processor (D-ESP). Two days will be spent on/near the Southern California Methane Mound, and two days will be 'off' the mound, yet nearby. We will also recover McStar (on mound) and the nearby Nobska CTD frame. We also will collect water with both the ROV and large CTD rosette for biogeochemical analysis, and we hope to collect several push-cores.
Track the ship: Western Flyer, July 22, 2010; 0800 hours |
Daily Expedition Logs  One last diveJuly 19, 2010  Armed with a titanium probeJuly 18, 2010  Probing and testingJuly 17, 2010  All these clamsJuly 16, 2010  The seafloor blizzardJuly 15, 2010  Diving on the seafloor moundsJuly 14, 2010  Probing for a methane signalJuly 13, 2010  Some hardy animalsJuly 12, 2010  Stressing out a squidJuly 11, 2010  Recovering the benthic elevatorJuly 10, 2010  Setting sailJuly 9, 2010 Daily Expedition Logs  Recovering the D-ESPJuly 26, 2010  Location, location, locationJuly 25, 2010  Now—next to the moundJuly 24, 2010  Still on the moundJuly 23, 2010  D-ESP gets underwayJuly 22, 2010 |