May 19,
1998
(Right) The Z-boat is sent out to the sub to bring some extra equipment.
|
 |
Position as of 08:27:08 (local time), 00:27:08 (Greenwich Time, GMT
27° 45' N
91° 11' W
Click on the small photos for a closer look! |
Flat ocean
|
Systems On, Systems Off
The NR-1 continues along its route at sloth speed to ensure
good imaging. The high resolution Laser Line Scanner requires a speed of
less than two knots which is slower than one walks. We on the Chouest get
bits and pieces as to how the mission is progressing at depth. Direct communication
with the sub is restricted to the captain and a few others.
Keeping the Laser and X-Star systems on-line continues
to be a challenge. The systems are on one moment and off the next. Like
using and piece of equipment, this will probably be the case until they
get used to dealing with their idiosyncracies. The X-star chirpers were
sending out signals this morning, but the hydrophones were not receiving
the reflection from the seafloor. To fix the problem, they had to take a
pre-amplifier out of the sound loop. This introduces noise into the da
At this time, the NR-1 is heading to its 8th site of interest.
We heard they found a large crater at their second site and a lot of pockmarks
indicating oil seepage. They also saw many sea anemones, gorgonians (sea-fans),
and bacterial mats among extensive areas of carbonate pavements. At site
5 they found a lot of tubeworms and mussels as well as a mud volcano with
a brine pool in the center, exciting.
|
High reflectance brine
View side-scan sonar images of sites
1-6 |
