Brown Science Report July 30, 2001

image of sulfide worms, click for full size

Sulfide worm observations at ASHES vent field will be a part of the scientific agenda on dive R632.

image of Virgin at ASHES, click for full size

Virgin mound with HOBO probes, deployed on dive R624. We are back at ASHES now, dive R632.

NOAA Ship Ron Brown/ROV ROPOS
Science News

Science Report - Monday, July 30, 2001
Bill Chadwick
Ship's position: 45 56.0'/-130 00.8'

After 40 hours of high winds and seas, ROPOS is finally back in the water for dive 632, the last dive of the NeMO 2001 expedition. We recovered the transponders from CASM this morning, once it became obvious that we no longer had enough time to dive there in addition to ASHES. The final dive at ASHES will mainly recover experiments that have been down since the beginning of the cruise (larval and bacterial traps) and will deploy experiments that will stay down until next summer (larval settlement arrays and temperature probes).

ROPOS will also make follow up observations on sulfide worm feeding behavior (photo top right). Sulfide worms live on the sides of sulfide chimneys and can withstand some of the highest temperatures known of any hydrothermal vent animal (up to 40-60 degrees C). ROPOS will fit as much into the dive as possible until it is time for the ship to leave Axial seamount and head for Victoria BC, where the NeMO 2001 expedition will end.