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Archive for Uncategorized – Page 3

Under Pressure (and Elephants)

Posted on March 22, 2016
by Maris Wicks

Pressure_scale-banner

Remember that post about how deep Alvin dives? Well, here’s a visual representation of how much pressure an object (like Alvin) would feel at 3870 meters (12,700 feet, or nearly 2.5 miles).
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Welcome to the Marathon Fracture Zone

Posted on March 20, 2016
by Maris Wicks

Images by Maris Wicks; text with the assistance of Eric Mittelstaedt, University of Idaho

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Week 1 Recap

Posted on March 18, 2016
by Maris Wicks
Iggy Pop Rock Arrival Survival suit posse Lydia peeking Map reading Goodnight <em>Alvin</em> <em>Sentry</em> away <em>Alvin</em> gets ready
Meet Igneous Popping Rock (aka Iggy Pop Rock), our Popping Rocks 2016 mascot! That's me in the background. (Photo by Adam Soule, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Arrival at the dock in Barbados (and my first time seeing R/V Atlantis in real life). (Photo by Maris Wicks)
Our introduction to living aboard R/V Atlantis included safety; this was taken during a ship evacuation drill, where we learned to put on our immersion (or survival) suits. (Photo by Eric Mittelstaedt, Idaho State University)
Lydia takes a peek inside Alvin's personnel sphere--don’t worry, she’s not touching the acrylic viewport! (Photo by Maris Wicks)
Planning for the first Alvin dive of the cruise in library of R/V Atlantis included a look at both multibeam bathymetry and side-scan sonar maps. (Photo by Maris Wicks)
Alvin tucks in for the night, ready for its first dive in the morning. (Photo by Maris Wicks)
Sentry works the night shift during this cruise, mapping the seafloor while most of us sleep. This information is used to help plan Alvin dives. Here’s Sentry on its first deployment of the cruise, an engineering dive to make sure all the instruments where working correctly. (Photo by Maris Wicks)
Alvin gets a last bit of sunlight before descending 3800 meters beneath the ocean surface. (Photo by Lance Wills, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Here’s a look back at our arrival on the ship and our first week of science.

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Where’s Alvin?

Posted on March 15, 2016
by Maris Wicks
It’s often a challenge to convey scale, especially when it comes to really, really tiny things (I’m looking at you, atoms*) to really, really big things (ahem, Solar System). Visual representation can help us to see or comprehend scale, especially in places that we cannot often go (like the deep sea or space)!
The environment that Alvin visits is not just deep, it’s one of the most extreme on Earth, thanks to a little something called pressure (which we’ll be exploring soon!).
In the meantime, please enjoy these other visual depictions of scale for the Solar System and lakes and oceans.
*I can’t actually see atoms, but I know that they’re there.

Where's Alvin? Read More→

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Sisters, On Ships

Posted on March 15, 2016
by Hannah Bercovici

Sisters on ShipsWhen we first announced our individual cruises, my sister Sarah and I were excited that we were going to overlap while at sea. But we were even more excited to learn that we are connected out here in a way few sisters can claim.

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We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Blog Post

Posted on March 13, 2016
by Maris Wicks
Reaching out Welcome back Sample basket First look Pillow lava Samples Vesicles It popped Watch the needle Pop Rocks
Alvin's manipulator arm reaches out to retrieve a sample from the seafloor. (Mark Kurz, chief scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Eric Mittelstaedt, co-chief scientist, University of Idaho. Funder: NSF © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.)
The first science dive of the cruise was also chief scientist Mark Kurz’s first dive in Alvin, and he was greeted on deck with frozen flip-flops, Pop Rocks candy, a sign, and a few buckets of ice water. (Photo by Maris Wicks)
Alvin's sample basket sits untouched until the sub is secured. (Photo by Maris Wicks)
Dan Fornari, Adam Soule, and Megan Jones (left to right) move in at the first opportunity to inspect the samples from the first dive. (Photo by Maris Wicks)
A sample of pillow basalt in one of the collection baskets. (Photo by Maris Wicks)
An individual fragment of glassy basalt (with a finger for scale). (Photo by Mark Kurz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
A 22X-view of the popping sample full of tiny spherical vesicles containing gas under pressure. (Photo by Mark Kurz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Did it really just pop? Left to right: Kate Kaminski, Lydia Auner, Elise Rumpf, Caroline Gini, Frieder Klein, Adam Soule, Darin Schwartz, and Hannah Bercovici. (Photo by Maris Wicks)
Everyone keeps their eyes on the pressure gauge on the turbo molecular vacuum as it fluctuates, signifying even more gas release. (Photo by Mark Kurz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Of course we celebrated by eating Pop Rocks! (Photo by Maris Wicks)

Well, it didn’t take long. Just a few hours after arriving on deck from our first Alvin dive, one of the glassy fragments of basalt went “POP!” right on the sample table. Read More→

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That’s Cold

Posted on March 12, 2016
by Ken Kostel

MarkWhen you take your first dive in Alvin, one thing is certain: no matter what you see or what you find, you’ll be welcomed back on Atlantis with a bucket (or two) of seawater that has been kept in the ship’s refrigerator just for your return. Even, as Mark Kurz discovered, if you’re the Chief Scientist. (Photos by Maris Wicks; click to enlarge)

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Data Collection During Transit

Posted on March 12, 2016
by Maris Wicks

  1b-xbt

The journey from Barbados to the location on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where popping rocks were once found takes approximately 4 days. During that time, we’ve got data to collect and record! Here’s what we’re looking for and why, as well as the devices that are used to collect that data. Read More→

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Welcome Aboard

Posted on March 8, 2016
by Maris Wicks

1_welcome_aboard

Welcome aboard R/V Atlantis! Read More→

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Deep Questions on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Posted on March 7, 2016
by Maris Wicks

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