Teacher Logbook - NOAA Ship Ron Brown

Jeff Goodrich's Sealog:
South Cleft Segment of Juan de Fuca Ridge

I'm sitting in the darkened ROPOS control room (image left) where the only illumination comes from the 22 computers and monitors scattered throughout the crowded space. Air conditioner vents continually blow out cold air to keep the computers cool. This requires everyone inside to wear polar fleece. Geologist Bill Chadwick directs the ROPOS pilots in his attempt to connect, via an infrared reader (IR), and collect data from the eleven extensometers spaced across the axis of the spreading center some 2200 meters below the ship. This is no easy task as the IR sensors on the extensometer and on ROPOS's IR port must be lined up perfectly. Bill must also obtain pressure measurements from each extensometer location. Any movement during data collection terminates the readings so weather becomes an important issue. Ship movement due to high seas tugs at the cage which, in turn, tugs at ROPOS and the instruments it carries. Tension is high during the long, monotonous 20 minute pressure readings. Occasionally they must start over. Bill is patient, persistent, and successful. Periodically crowds of scientists gather in the room to witness the process.

On our way to benchmark 9, the ROV came upon these two beautiful brisingid sea stars - arms outstretched while filter feeding. Other unidentified invertebrates (white shapes) share the lava rock perch. While performing infrared and pressure readings at benchmark 9 (2215 meters), an unidentified fish measuring over one meter in length came to check out what we were doing. The fish has eye sockets, but no eyes, because at this depth everything is dark (except when ROPOS comes to visit).

The ROPOS control room is divided into stations where numerous people communicate in order to make a dive successful. In front of a Star Trek-like control console sit two ROPOS pilots that fly the vehicle with a joystick, use its two hydraulic arms to take samples and operate any other equipment placed on the vehicle for a particular dive. Navigation is important, as the pilots often cannot see more than several feet in front of them. So, a navigator uses a network of transponders and transducers to relay the location of the ship, the cage, ROPOS and any features to the pilots for successful flying. Periodically the navigator calls the ship's bridge and requests that the ship move to a different position.

Sitting adjacent to the pilots are the scientists. They tell the pilots where to go, what to sample and will often talk into a microphone so that the whole room can hear what's going on. ROPOS allows for many different scientists to see the ocean floor at the same time. This is advantageous as chemists, biologists, geologists and engineers can bounce ideas off each other and makes this type of ocean floor exploration truly interdisciplinary.

A logger sits at a computer behind the ROPOS control console and records everything that goes on during a dive. A log is compiled at the end of the dive so that scientists can refer back to the dive months later and find out what happened at specific times. Sitting behind the logger is a video logger that records the entire dive on a series of SVHS, beta and digital video recorders. Periodically, when interesting creatures or geologic features come across one of ROPOS's two video cameras, a frame grab is taken. All of the frame grabs go into the dive log and some of these still pictures appear on this web page for your viewing pleasure.

After completing the data transfer, the last of the extensometers is placed and calibrated. The extensometer array will record data for another year. Our next task is to retrieve HOBO's (high temperature recorders) from the two nearby vents, Plume and Vent 1. Stay tuned for our first look at some black smokers.