After a couple days on the ship, it was nice to get a chance
to put some sampling devices over the side to collect water and sediment. The day watch literally learned the ropes on how to deploy and recover the multicore.
Once a core comes back on deck,
it must be “extruded” and sliced up to produce subsamples which are bagged or
bottled for later analysis. The CTD is a
device that measures the conductivity and temperature of water with depth. The conductivity of the water is used to
ascertain the salinity – the more dissolved ions, the more the water is able to
conduct electricity. The CTD (not shown) also has
other sensors, such as oxygen, turbidity and fluorescence (which can be related
to the amount of marine plants in the water).
Also, the CTD has a bunch of
water bottles which can be “fired” at any depth, depending on the observed data
profile. The water samples can then be
used to analyze water chemistry and/or biology.
Both are being done on this cruise.
The day watch gets to work (left). Ryan Gibbons helps prep for the next core (right).
Sampling is a team effort.
Dave Sybert and Reide Corbett "extrude" or cut up a core.
Ian Conery bottles some sediment.
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