Updates
Mission Complete!
September 18 2023: The last dive of Leg 4 (J2-1562) surveyed the seafloor at Slope Base to locate and mark a cable for potential recovery in 2024. Jason was back onboard early this morning, and the Thompson headed back to port. The vessel arrived at the NOAA dock of ~1500 local time. Demobilization commenced then and is expected to…
Read MoreVariety of Dive Tasks
September 16-17, 2023: Jason is busy with a variety of tasks. At Axial Seamount, the ROV dove in the International District hydrothermal vent field to collect fluid samples from the vent to be analyzed for microbes and viruses. The Jason did a second dive collect more fluid samples at Marker 113, a diffuse flow site…
Read MoreJason, the Work Horse
September 12-15, 2023: Leg 4 has been very busy. Jason swapped out the wire crawler vehicle at the Axial Base Deep Profiler Mooring at a water depth of 2900 meters. CTD casts were completed to verify the instruments on the deep profiler vehicle and a CTD was exchanged at Axial Caldera. The Thompson then transited from Axial…
Read MoreCalm Weather, Smooth Operations
September 7-11, 2023: Leg 4 started with a promising note–good weather and calm seas. Ten new VISIONS students boarded the R/V Thomas G. Thompson to have their first experiences at sea. A large part of operations during Leg 4 are focusing on recovering and redeploying cabled Deep Profiler moorings that host an instrumented vehicle, which at…
Read MoreMission Accomplished, Homeward Bound
Homeward bound! The Irminger 10 team has completed all cruise objectives (in spite of high winds/heavy seas) and is heading home. All moorings have been deployed and recovered; gliders deployed; CTD casts for instrument cross-calibration, meteorological surveys, and ancillary CTD casts to support the OSNAP program were completed, and many marine mammal sightings were recorded.…
Read MoreLeg 3 Fini!
September 4-6, 2023: In spite of weather delays, the objectives of Leg 3 were accomplished. Two of the Leg 3 dives took place at International District, surrounded by hydrothermal vents and chemosynthetic animal communities. The team deployed a RAS/PPS sampler which collects fluid and DNA samples from the vents, specifically a vent known as “Tiny…
Read MoreRockin’ and Rolling but Getting the Job Done
The weather finally cleared up enough over the weekend for mooring recovery operations at OOI’s Global Irminger Sea Array to happen. Here Chris Basque directs the recovery of floats, in spite of the rocky waves and potential wet feet. Video credit: John Lund © WHOI.
Read MoreBack at it!
After a brief detour caused by heavy winds and high seas, the R/V Neil Armstrong and the OOI team are back at the array, deploying moorings during brief weather windows. They are getting the job done, even though conditions have been less-than-ideal.
Read MoreHigh Waves Delay Operations
September 1-4, 2023: Leg 3 once again began with unfavorable weather. Even staying in port one extra day didn’t prevent the ship from leaving Newport in rough seas with blustery winds. Once onsite, high winds and unpredictable swell made it hard to hold position, and too hazardous for Jason dives or even CTD casts. Only…
Read MoreTaking Shelter from Severe Storm
Conditions forced the R/V Neil Armstrong to take shelter in Prince Christian Sound. Quite a storm is going on at the array. Peak wave heights have subsided from 15.5 m to about 11.45 m. The surface buoy is still showing wind speeds 23 m/s (44.7 knots). These conditions make it impossible to deploy the moorings…
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