NOAA Research Cruise to Windows To The Deep July 22 August 3, 2003

1
NOAA Research Cruise to Windows To The Deep
July 22 August 3, 2003
The RV Atlantis Mother ship for the DSV Alvin
Slide show created by Margaret Olsen, SECOSEE
Education Specialist
2
Part I

• The Purpose of the Research Cruise and some of
  the scientific discoveries

3
The Windows to the Deep Cruise left from Woods
Hole, Mass at 530 am on Tuesday, July 22, 2003.
Atlantis in Port, July 21, 2004
Sign welcoming us aboard!
Removal of the gang plank!
Bosun supervising the final loading of equipment!
4
The overall goal of the 2003 Windows to the Deep
expedition was to explore the Blake Ridge and
Carolina Rise for new methane seeps and cold seep
communities using an integrated biological,
chemical, and geophysical approach.
The research and cruise was sponsored by NOAA and
NSF
5
What are Methane Hydrates and Why are they
Important?

• Methane Hydrate is water ice with methane locked
  inside the structure. Hydrate is difficult to
  study because it is not stable at the standard
  temperature and pressure. It likes low
  temperatures and high pressures.
• Methane is important because
• It may provide a future source of clean energy
• It may play a role in climate change the carbon
  cycle
• It is an integral part of the deep marine
  ecosystems
• Hydrate is an ice crystal and changes the
  properties of the sediments. This could affect
  the stability of the sea floor.

6
Why Should we Care?

• More than ½ the worlds carbon, 10,000 giga tons
  exist as hydrate and if the pressure should
  decrease the methane can bubble out.
• If sea level were to rise, this would warm the
  hydrate and they could escape.
• If sea level were to fall and the pressure on
  hydrates were to decrease, methane could also
  escape.
• The input of even small amounts of methane into
  our atmosphere could have adverse effects on our
  global climate.
• There is some evidence that some of the major
  extinctions in our geologic history may be due to
  out gassing of Methane.

7
The expedition focused on exploration of three
areas

• The Blake Ridge Diapir
• The Cape Fear Diapir and surrounding region
• The Blake Ridge in the vicinity of a large
  sediment wave field.

8
Blake Ridge is located approximately 350 miles
off the coast of Georgia and SC
9
Blake Ridge is one of a series of Salt Diapirs
that exist along the East Coast of the U. S.

• Salt diapirs are domes of salt that push their
  way up through overlying sediments.
• This creates fractures or cracks in the rocks.
• These cracks form a pathway through which methane
  gas can escape to the surface.

10
The night before each Alvin dive!
Students prepare push cores
Scientist decide where to dive
Alvin is loaded and ready to go!
Equipment is loaded in Science Basket
Markers are prepared
11
After Each Alvin Dive The Real Science Begins!
Graduate Students from William and Mary remove
specimens from the biobox.
12
Giant Mussel were found at 2600 meters!
13
All mussel specimens are measured and samples of
gill tissue are taken.
14
Scientist, Cindy Van Dover, and graduate
students separate live and dead clams.
15
Clam and mussel tissue samples are preserved for
study back at University Labs.
16
Jenny Dreyer (William Mary) prepares
microscopic photos of specimens.
Microscopic view of clam with possible new
species of worm!
Microscopic view of the first ice shrimp ever
brought to the surface! Ice shrimp live around
Methane Seep sites!
17
Bill Gilhooly from UWVA and Taylor from William
and Mary use probes to record chemical data from
each of the push core samples. This is done
inside the onboard freezer.
18
Amy Eisin (GA Tech) Preparing sediment slices for
the squeezers.
19
A squeezing apparatus is set up to squeeze the
pore water from the seafloor sediments.
20
Nitrogen gas is forced through each seafloor
specimen, forcing the water into test tubes
located below each squeezer apparatus. This pore
water is taken back to the University Labs for
further analysis!
Pore water collected in tubes!
21
Rock Samples are cut and prepared for further
study.

This thin slice of carbonate rock, containing
shell debris, formed at or near a methane seep
site.
22
The Seabeam, a sonar device attached to the
bottom of the ship, creates a three-dimensional
view of the ocean floor!
23
Completed Three-Dimensional View of Cape Fear
Diapir
24
The Seabean created this three dimensional view
of sediment wave field.
25
Some Major Scientific Contributions

• To our Geologic Knowledge
• The most complete and detailed map of Cape Fear
  submarine slide.
• A pseudo 3-D image of Blake Ridge Diapir.
• Several sea floor rock samples.
• Sediment dating at Blake Ridge.

26
Microbiological studies are yet to be completed,
but some contributions will include

• Distribution of clam and mussel communities with
  respect to the seep chemistry, location, and
  activity.
• Studies of mussel and clam parasites.
• Studies of worms in tubes, ice shrimp, and the
  identification of possible new species.
• Linking clam reproduction to sediment chemistry.
• Studies of the bacteria present in the sediments
  associated with mussels, clams, and methane seeps
  and comparing this data with studies of seep
  sites in the Gulf of Mexico.

27
Geochemical studies are yet to be completed, but
some contributions will include

• How the sulfate and sulfide concentrations of the
  sediment affect biological processes.
• Measurements of sulfur concentrations in sediment
  pore waters.
• Analysis of the amount of carbon present in the
  sediment.
• Studies of how bacteria changes the chemistry of
  the sediment.
• Analysis of the amount of total sulfur present in
  the sediment.

28
This is The End of Part I
29
CreditsMicroscopic photos courtesy of Jenny
Dreyer, William Mary Seabeam photos courtesy
of Dr. Carolyn RuppelAll other photos by
Margaret Olsen, SECOSEE Education Specialist.