Popping Rocks
  • Science
  • Location
  • Technology
  • People
    • 2016 People

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.

Word spread throughout the ship and we promptly celebrated with Pop Rocks. And then everyone immediately went back to the samples to see if more “POPS” were happening (they were!). More soon.

Rock on,

The Popping Rocks Team

Uncategorized
← Newer Post
Older Post →

About this expedition: Popping rocks revisited

We will be using the research vessel Atlantis, the submersible Alvin, and the autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry, to find and collect samples of “popping rocks”—basaltic seafloor lavas that contain large amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases trapped in high-pressure bubbles that pop when the rocks are brought to the surface. We intend to use these rocks to understanding the composition and origin of gases in the deep earth. This project began with an expedition in 2016 that was cut short due to mechanical problems. You can still see blog posts from the first trip here, and we will continue adding to them during the 2018 expedition.

Recent Posts

  • From Rocks to Rock Stars: A step-by-step guide to how a sample becomes a star
  • A Sacrifice to the Sea
  • Things on Ships
  • Our Cups Runeth Under
  • Traditions and Opportunities

Follow along live

Tweets by @popping_rocks

Follow our expedition

Completely spam free, opt out any time.

Email address
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution logoWHOI is the world's leading non-profit oceanographic research organization. Our mission is to explore and understand the ocean and to educate scientists, students, decision-makers, and the public.
Popping Rocks
Copyright © 2023 All Rights Reserved
Privacy Policy.
Problems or questions about the site, please contact webapp-support@whoi.edu
National Science FoundationThis expedition is funded by the National Science Foundation.