April 26 2008
April 26 2008
John Swartz and geologist Julian Pearce look over some maps of the cruise area
Taryn Noble and Tina van de Flierdt polish and cut fossil corals in preparation for lab analysis back in the US.
Taryn Noble and Tina van de Flierdt polish and cut fossil corals in preparation for lab analysis back in the US.
Josef Kuehnast and Jenny White prepare the dredge for deployment on the back deck.
Deciding where to put in a Blake Trawl on the Starfish Seamount.
The dredge being deployed in the twilight by Jenny White.
The trawl is brought up from the depths, about 2800 m to be precise, and is landed on deck.
The trawl is emptied to reveal a haul of mostly gravel and mud.
Waves can sometimes crash onto desk when emptying the trawl to add to the excitement!.
Daniel Wagner carries another bucket of muddy gravel to be cleaned through and sorted.
Rhian Waller shows off one of the most colourful finds so far this cruise.
An unusual find in the trawl – a whale ear bone.
Still surrounded by icebergs.
The geophysicists continued with their depth survey today, and deployed a dredge on Starfish Seamount. Unfortunately, the dredge failed to collect any of the rocks they were hoping for from the seafloor, but they’re getting ready to try again.
Meanwhile, the geochemists are busy in the lab polishing and cutting fossil corals. These samples will be analysed back in the US for radiocarbon, and it saves time to clean, polish and cut them on board. We also looked for a site to carry out another Blake Trawl – it’s important to choose a site with the correct topography: steep enough that corals would grow there, but not too steep that the trawl would get caught up. It’s a complicated business, but Kathy Scanlon, Rhian Waller and Laura Robinson use multibeam maps and computer algorithms to predict the most likely regions to find corals on the seafloor.
The weather has been getting colder - with snow showers and brisk winds it’s important to wrap up warm when doing deck work! Iceberg sightings off the ship are now common (but still very exciting!) and everyone is looking out for more penguins.
All photos by Dann Blackwood unless otherwise stated