Our cruise leaves from Manzanillo, Mexico on March 24, 2000. The first
3-4 weeks of work will be far from the Galapagos, working on the East
Pacific Rise axis at several different locations. If you want to
join us for the entire cruise I could arrange that, but it would mean nearly
6 weeks at sea for you. As you will note from my suggestion below, I am
suggesting coming into the Galapagos to pick you up prior to doing the
field work
in the waters around the western Galapagos Islands.
We do have one study site near the Galapagos Rift near 97.5degW that we
will be investigating, and we also have been funded to carry out some
preliminary work to look at the western Galapagos Islands, primarily
Fernandina and Isabela.
Our work plan involves 3-4 days of multibeam sonar surveying, rock
dredging and perhaps rock coring to collect samples around
the western Galapagos Islands. If we have time we may also deploy the
Argo II camera system to collect some information on the western extension
of the rift system from Fernandina.
Our logistics plan to accomplish the work around Fernandina and Isabela
is to take the ship into Puerto Ayorta, Galapagos to pick you (and perhaps
some additional scientists) up sometime around April 20, 2000. We would
then go out and do the work for 5-7 days and return to Puerto Ayorta to
drop you and the additional scientists off. We would then stay in Puerto
Ayorta for a few days to make a small tour of the national park and to
give the scientists onboard a break as we will have been at sea for over
a month by then.
Overview
ENGLISH:
Title: Marine Geology investigation west of the Galapagos Islands, and
in the Galapagos rift-EPR intersection.
PI: Daniel Fornari (WHOI)
Ship: R/V Melville
Dates: From March-24-2000 to May-10-2000 (Please note that the research
will take place in Ecuadorian territorial waters only from April-20 to
May-3, aprox.)
Itinerary: Manzanillo-Puerto Ayora (Galapagos)-Pto. Ayora-Manzanillo
Description:
We intend to conduct a marine geology survey to the west of Fernandina
and Isabela (Galapagos Islands), using rock dredging and camera and
sonar mapping. This survey forms part of a broader, collaborative
project between scientists from the Charles Darwin Research Station and
US Institutions (M. Kurz, WHOI; D. Geist, UI). Other scientific
objectives of this project are to investigate the Galapagos rift and the
EPR at several locations with recent volcanic activity, from 10N to 10S.
SPANISH
Título: Investigación de Geología Marina en el Sector Occidental de las
Islas Galápagos y en la intersección del Rift de Galápagos con la Dorsal
del Pacífico Oriental.
Investigador Principal: Daniel Fornari (WHOI)
Buque: R/V Melville.
Fechas: Del 24 de Marzo del 2000 al 10 de Mayo del 2000 (nótese que la
investigación sólo se llevará a cabo en aguas territoriales de Ecuador
entre las fechas 20-Abril-2000 y 3-Mayo-2000, aproximadamente).
Recorrido: Manzanillo (México)-Pto. Ayora (Galápagos)-Pto.
Ayora-Manzanillo.
Descripción:
Esta campaña pretende realizar una investigación de gelogía marina al
oeste de las islas Fernandina e Isabela (Islas Galápagos), mediante
dragado de muestras de rocas volcánicas y cartografía por sonar y
cámaras. Se enmarca dentro de un proyecto de colaboración entre
científicos de la Estación Charles Darwin y científicos estadounidenses
(Dr. M. Kurz, WHOI; Dr. D. Geist, Univ. de Idaho). Otros objetivos
científicos de este proyecto son investigar el rift de Galápagos y la
dorsal del Pacífico Oriental en varios puntos donde se cree que ha
habido actividad volcánica reciente, en una zona que abarca desde 10°N
hasta 10°S de latitud.
****************************************
AHA Cruise Planning Memo 9/30/99
To: A. Bowen, B. Walden, J. Alberts, D. Gleason, D. Yoerger
L. Flick, H. Singh -WHOI
SIO Res. Techs and Marine Ops.
From: Dan Fornari and Jim Cochran
cc: Members of science party and shipboard collaborators
Date: Sept. 30, 1999
Subject: Cruise Planning for AHA Cruise NSF OCE 98114504
NSF Grant Title:
Basic Seafloor Reconnaissance of T-Phase Data from the NOAA
Autonomous Hydrophone Array: Assessing the Nature of
Magmatic/Volcanic Events on the East Pacific Rise 20°N - 25°S
Overall AHA Project Summary
Data from the NOAA AHA has been recorded for the past 2 years
and we will have information that is current up to December 1999, the
last data recovery from the AHA prior to our cruise. Those data will be
reduced and our final site information will be ready by about mid-February.
We already have 4-5 candidate sites to focus our studies on
and I will provide details about those in future memos. For now our
tentative coverage is between 10N and 10S on the EPR crest and one
possible site on the Galapagos Rift near 98W.
The first survey we will do is a ~3-4 day DSL-120 survey of the EPR
crest between about 9 15'N and 9 55'N. Following that we will proceed
to our best AHA target and begin our investigations. We intend to use a
nested survey strategy that begins with Seabeam surveying to identify
the ridge crest morphology (some of these areas have very sparse
multibeam coverage). We will then carry out DSL-120 surveys of the
ridge axis, probably over an ~10 km long area to identify the principal
morpho-structural elements of the ridge crest. This will hopefully
provide clues as to the presence/absence of an axial trough, dimensions,
possible acoustic facies that could be interpreted as lava flow contact,
and basic water column properties that could help identify hydrothermal
vents possibly associated with recent eruptions/intrusions. Following
the DSL-120 sonar surveying we will use the Argo II mapping system to
image targeted areas identified in the sonar data as being important to
verifying the volcanic interpretatio of the AHA t-phase data. We will use
CTD towyos to further explore for vent plumes if initial signals from
MAPRs on the sonar vehicle or Argo II look promising and if the Argo II
data show extensive hydrothermal venting. We will use a combination of
spot rock dredging, rock coring and Shipek (spring loaded clamshell)
grab sampling to sample rocks and biota from areas of interest on the
seafloor.
DSL-120 equipment & sensors required for AHA Cruise:
1. Magnetometer (Maurice says it will be useful so we want it on)
2. Transmissometer (would like WHOI to provide)
3. CTD (WHOI to provide)
4. 4-5 MAPRs (Ed Baker- NOAA to provide, science party will
take care of equipment and data)
5. Altimeter, 4.5 kHz or other (WHOI to provide)
6. Based on our discussions the other day please plan for 14 days
of DSL-120 surveying
7. Event logging program will be needed for real time sonar data
analysis
8. WHOI DSL Doppler for aiding vehicle navigation (to be discussed
with Dana and Hanu)
Argo II equipment & sensors required for AHA Cruise:
1. CTD (WHOI to provide)
2. Transmissometer (would like WHOI to provide)
3. Downlooking Imagenix (profiling) (WHOI to provide)
4. ESC - downlooking (use Benthos? check with Hanu and Dana)
5. 4-5 MAPRs (Ed Baker- NOAA to provide, science party will
AHA Cruise Planning Memo 9/30/99 page 3 of 5
take care of equipment and data)
6. Lasers - 2 (with spares), spaced 1 meter apart, downlooking for
scaling in Argo imagery (WHOI to provide)
7. 35mm photography (I can provide a Benthos 377 film camera
and housing so that 400'rolls of film can be loaded, to be
discussed)
8. Downlooking video 2 cameras, both with zoom/focus capability
(can this be recorded to digital video tape? we would prefer
this to Hi-8 tapes) (WHOI to provide)
9. Based on our discussions the other day please plan for 24 days
of Argo II surveying
10. Event logging program will be needed for real time data
analysis
11. Capability for ESC mosaicing onboard.
12. WHOI DSL Doppler for aiding vehicle navigation (to be discussed
with Dana and Hanu)
Vehicle and Sampling Navigation
We will use a combination of layback navigation and transponder
based LBL for the various surveys. We will need to discuss various
strategies to optimize survey time and ability to correlate sonar data
with Argo observations. It is likely that some portions of the sonar lines
will be transponder navigated but will extend outside the net as well.
Argo tracks will all be done within transponder networks.
WHOI should provide a minimum of 8-10 transponders and the
infrastructure for LBL and vehicle/ship navigation. I am making
arrangements to get the Bender transponders for this cruise. As many as
6-8 transponders could be deployed at each of 4 survey sites.
We will also require relay transponder navigation for some of the
dredges, rock cores and CTD towyos. WHOI-DSOG should be prepared
to assist with navigating various samplers.
As noted above we would like to explore the possibility of using
the DSL doppler on the vehicles to aid in vehicle navigation. This will
need to be discussed with WHOI-DSG and DSL personnel, principally
Dana Yoerger and Hanu Singh.
Shipboard (Melville) Requirements:
(NB- other vehicle and van specific issues will be provided by WHOI-DSG)
1. Seabeam with post-processing tech (SIO to provide)
2. CTD (with tech if possible) (SIO to provide)
3. P-code GPS (SIO to provide)
4. Dynamic Positioning (SIO to provide)
5. SeaNet System (SIO to provide)
6. ADCP (SIO to provide)
7. 12 kHz and 3.5 kHz echosounders (SIO to provide)
8. towed magnetometer (SIO to provide)
9. gravity (SIO to provide)
10. Hydrowinch for Rock Coring (SIO to provide)
11. CTD winch for CTD towyoing (SIO to provide)
12. Trawl Winch for dredging (SIO to provide)
13. WHOI-DSOG traction winch for vehicles (WHOI to provide
14. WHOI-DSOG Argo II and DSL-120 vehicles and vans
(WHOI to provide)
15. Electrical connections for vans and data links to shipboard
navigation, controls and sensors for WHOI vehicles
(SIO to provide)
16. -80degC freezers for biological storage (SIO to provide)
17. chest freezers (SIO to provide)
18. 2 rock dredges, weak links and net bags and supplies
(SIO to provide)
19. 2 rock-wax corers and supplies (SIO to provide)
20. 2 WHOI supplied rock dredges (Fornari to provide)
21. 2 WHOI supplied rock corers (Fornari to provide)
22. 2 12 kHz pingers (SIO to provide)
23. XBT's for Seabeam calibration
24. Gravity corer (SIO to provide)
25. Multiple strong points and trawl block on stern A Frame to
allow WHOI vehicle towing and dredging off stern A frame.
WHOI to provide trawl block for fiber optic cable.
26. Various PC and Unix computers for data processing and
networking with WHOI DSOG vehicle data stream.
27. rock saw (SIO to provide?? or Fornari can provide)
Tentative Science Personnel List (others to be added):
1. Dan Fornari WHOI (Chief Scientist)
2. Bob Embley NOAA- Newport
3. Mike Perfit U. Florida
4. Maya Tolstoy LDEO
5. Rachel Haymon UCSB (not confirmed)
6. Tim Shank WHOI
7. Matt Smith U. Hawaii
8. Dan Scheirer Brown U. (not confirmed)
9. Greg Kurras U. Hawaii
10. Paul Johnson U. Hawaii
11. Julia Getsiv NOAA-Newport/OSU
12. U. Florida Student
13. U. Florida Student
14. WHOI Student
15. SIO SeabeamTech
16. SIO CTD Tech (not confirmed)
Shorebased Collaborators:
Chris Fox and coworkers- NOAA, Newport (AHA tphase data)
Bob Collier - OSU (CTD data reduction and plume work)
Ed Baker - NOAA-Seattle (MAPRs and CTD data red. and plume work)
John Lupton - NOAA, Newport (He data from CTD collected seawater)
Marv Lilley and Karen Von Damm (fluid chemistry of any near
bottom fluids collected by CTD from near vents)
Cruise Logistics:
The cruise is scheduled to start and end in Manzanillo, Mexico. It
is hoped that the WHOI-DSOG equipment and science equipment can be
loaded on Melville prior to leaving San Diego on 17 Feb. 2000 to avoid
Mexican customs problems and facilitate setting up the ship for the
cruise prior to departure. The current schedule has us leaving in the
afternoon of March 24th and returning in the early morning of May 10.
We are in the process of requesting clearance to make a mid-cruise port
stop in the Galapagos Islands, Puerto Ayora, on Santa Cruz Island,
sometime during the period 21 April to 3 May. If that is granted we will
plan to do 1-2 days work around the westernmost islands (Fernandina
and Isabela) before going in for a 2 day stop. That is the tentative plan
that SIO is working on in requesting Ecuadorian clearance. We are also
requesting Mexican clearance to collect Seabeam data on transits in and
out of Manzanillo to assist Peter Lonsdale with some of his multibeam
data compilations.