| |
NeMO
2006 Cruise Plan:
R/V Thomas Thompson
August 22-September 7, 2006
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada - Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
(port stops before and after in Seattle, Washington)
NeMO
2006:
The NeMO 2006 expedition will use two different underwater vehicles for
separate tasks and will alternate between them. During most days, we will
use the ROPOS remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to recover and deploy seafloor
instruments and to take chemical, biologic, and geologic samples. During
most nights, we will use an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) built
by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) for high-resolution
mapping of the seafloor.
The
main goal of the NeMO project is to monitor changes at an active submarine
volcano that are related to its magmatic cycle from one eruption to the
next. Axial volcano last erupted in 1998, and there is evidence that it
is already building up to its next eruption. We do not know exactly when
that will occur, but we hope to monitor the volcano and document changes
occurring in its hydrothermal and biological systems related to its activity.
We
are particularly interested in the interactions between the different
components of the system: geological, chemical and biological. The NeMO
project has conducted coordinated chemical and microbiological sampling
at an unprecedented level of both spatial and temporal resolution. This
year will build upon the techniques we have learned and will include intense
sampling throughout the Axial caldera hydrothermal areas.
The
primary scientific goals/tasks planned for NeMO 2006 include:
1. Recover long-term time-series instruments from two sites at Endeavour.
2. Conduct chemical, biological, and geological sampling at Main Endeavour
and Mothra hydrothermal fields.
3. CTD/rosette casts/tows over Endeavour hydrothermal fields.
4. Conduct repeat pressure measurements with ROPOS on seafloor benchmarks,
three transects during one 36 hour dive. Measurements from 2000-2004 showed
that the center of the caldera was uplifting at a rate of 19 cm/yr.
5. Recovery of NeMO-Net full depth mooring with surface buoy.
6. Deployment of two seafloor chemical samplers (RAS) on small moorings
for un-monitored, pre-programmed time series measurements at Endeavour
and Axial.
7. Chemical, biological and microbiological sampling throughout Axial
Volcano caldera.
8. Deployment of 4 ocean bottom hydrophones to monitor seismicity at Axial
Volcano.
9. Recovery and re-deployment of temperature monitors used to measure
temperature variations each hour for 1-2 years at seafloor hot spring
sites.
10. CTD/rosette casts/tows for hydrothermal plumes at Axial Volcano.
11. AUV mapping near Axial Volcano to resurvey and refine previously mapped
areas and areas with only coarse resolution bathymetry. High-resolution
mapping of the entire summit caldera at Axial plus some of the north and
south rift zones, if time permits.
12. ROV sampling of portions of lava pillars both on and off the 1998
lava flow in the Axial Volcano caldera.
13. Recovery of “Rumbleometer” that was re-located in 2004.
14. Test deployment of autonomous recording hydrophone, “Q-phone”.
|
|
