The beginning of the "No Mores"

Today marks the final day before we start the infamous "No Mores".  No more Saturdays, then no more Sundays, and on and on until it is time for us to set a course towards dry land.  With almost two weeks behind us on this second half of the cruise we have only a handful of sail lines left to complete (see figure below).  Once we finish the lines we will head back down to the bottom half of our work site to fill in holes; isolated spots where we were unable to collect data due to strong currents or short-lived equipment problems.  After that it's back to port where we will wave farewell to the R/V Langseth as it steams towards the waters offshore of Iceland for another scientific adventure.

Don't forget to check out our progress as we fill in the sail lines here

Happy TGIF!

Natalie Accardo
Lamont-Doherty

Step into our Office: A tour of the main science lab in the R/V Langseth

A panorama view of the main science lab

We left off last time with a tour of our sleeping quarters thus it seems only appropriate to now walk through the room where we spend most of waking hours; the main science lab.   Located one level below the gun deck, the main lab operates 24 hours a day controlling every aspect of data acquisition from monitoring the multichannel streamers and air-gun arrays to building the computers needed to process the terabytes of data that barrel in.  

An up close view of the numerous computer screens in the main lab

It can safely be said that when acquiring 3D seismic data during which approximately 6.5 terabytes of raw data will be recorded over 43 days you can never have enough computers.  In the main lab, laptops and computers occupy every surface.  Stand-alone computer monitors duck taped onto desks sit next to laptops anchored by bungee cables.  Power cords, Ethernet cables, and USB connections snake across tables in every direction periodically diving down into a dark power outlet. A bank of computer screens approximately 12 monitors wide and 3 monitors tall encircles nearly half of the lab.  These screens (39 in total) act as terminals that allow us to monitor and control a myriad of processes that are summarized in the image below.  Possibly of greatest importance are the terminals dedicated to “driving the ship.”   We aim to always have the four streamers following in perfect straight lines behind the ship however, cross-currents make this is a difficult charge.  Given the length of 6 km (3.7 miles!) and the weight of the streamers, it is akin to a toy boat towing four 23 m (75 ft) fishing lines straight behind it on a windy day. Thus to keep the streamers in the optimum orientation with respect to our acquisition line we continuously nudge the ship north and south while pulling the heads of the streamers with us. All of the steering is done from a combination of three monitors with the use of the software package “Spectra,” which in the simplest sense determines real time data coverage given the location of the air guns and the streamers. 

A labeled view of the bank of computer monitors that dominates the lab

Of equal importance are monitors that display the health of the four streamers and the two air-gun arrays.  We aim to keep the streamers at a constant depth relative to the air-gun arrays and also at a depth that keeps them protected from passing ship traffic.  In this part of the Atlantic fishing vessels are common and with our gear sitting kilometers behind our ship and 12 m (40 ft) beneath the sea surface one could see how a vessel might not know that it is there.  Therefore, whenever we see an approaching boat we implore them to keep a safe distance away both for the safety of their vessel and for our gear.  

The back of the lab where most of the preprocessing and quality control is done.

Additionally, we use this bank of terminals to monitor for the presence of critters in the water, the weather and sea conditions, and the health of the EM122 multi-beam.  Sitting back from the semi-circle of computers is another set of desks where the we, the students and scientists, stake our claim.  Outfitted with no-slip fabric and duck tape, we have covered the back of the room with our computers, which we use for pre-processing and quality control (QC) of the incoming data. 

That about covers the main lab, they keep it pretty cold down here for the sake of the computers so I’m headed up to grab another sweatshirt before I get frost bite.  Stay warm out there!

Natalie Accardo

Lamont-Doherty

What a difference a month makes!

For those of you who have been following our adventure here's a comparison of the sea-state. I know that the few of us who have been out here for both halves definitely appreciate the difference, and for those joining for the second half it looks like smooth seas ahead!

Also, we have now reached 10,000 page views!! So thanks Mom (and everybody else).

James Gibson 

Lamont-Doherty

Mi Casa es Su Casa : A tour of the living quarters aboard the R/V Langseth

Our home away from home at sunset

We started our tour of the R/V Langseth almost a month ago with a walk through of the mess hall and now with our return to the high seas are excited to pick back up where we left off.  Let’s begin with our sleeping quarters.

As we all know, the most important aspect of real estate is location, location, location and the same can be said for room assignments when at sea.  On first glance, you might be tempted to opt for a room on a higher floor accompanied by a nice porthole to allow full view of the spectacular sea outside.  However, hold that thought!  Remember that the further above sea level you are, the more you will move with each passing wave.  What may feel like a peaceful sway down on the lower levels can turn into a ferocious veer strong enough to topple chairs on the top deck.  Thus, if you have any inclination that you could succumb to seasickness it is probably best to pass on the picturesque vista and opt instead for a windowless cabin below.  Fortunately, for many of the scientists mental struggles over room selection never occurred as cabins had been assigned to us before we walked up the gangway.  Most of the students aboard are sleeping in a suite of cabins that share a common living space endearingly termed the “Snake Pit”.  The origin of the room’s namesake remains mysterious, perhaps previous groups of students did some sort of battle there? Or fought snakes? Who knows, for now though it represents a comfortable room where many spend their off time reading books from the library or taking short siestas in between work. 

The "Snake Pit" where students read and lounge between shifts

All of the cabins aboard share similar features such as a set of bunk beds and matching closets.  Depending on the individual setup, you might find yourself lucky enough to also have a set of desks and perhaps even a small couch though these furnishings are found mostly in the higher rooms reserved for the principle scientists and the superior ship mates.  Given that work continues around the clock on the Langseth, all bunk beds include an individual light for private reading and also black out drapes to both prevent any light from your bed reaching your room mate and conversely any light from your room mate reaching you.  Additionally, all rooms come with either adjoining shared or private bathrooms (termed “heads”).  Given the combination of rolling waves and slippery tiles, it could easily be said that the heads may be some of the most injury prone rooms aboard.  Thus whenever attempting to take a shower, remember to always keep one hand on the hand rail and if the ship starts swaying don’t neglect to hold on tight otherwise you might suddenly find yourself autonomously ejected onto the cold, wet floor.

Our cozy cabin equipped with bunk beds and closets

I think that about does it for now, dinnertime is just around the corner and I can smell the ahi tuna from here. Buenas Noches!

Natalie Accardo

Lamont-Doherty

Vigo, Illas Cies, and La Cabeza

As Dale said we are back to work!! We have now completed 3 lines of the ~25 that we hope to cover during this second half.

Being at sea again allows me to look back at our extended stay in Vigo (Galicia). The port city of Vigo is a unique and beautiful place. The summer months are particularly nice as this part of the Atlantic coast is rainy most of the year. Vigo is just about 2hrs north of Porto (Port wine), which is in Portugal. The proximity to Portugal and the fact that in the past teaching the English language was not stressed within the school system leads to a population that speaks a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish, but not much English. As a result my (poor) Spanish was definitely put to the test as well as my ability to communicate using what are best described as elementary level sketches. 

What Vigoites lack in English they make up in hospitality and a relaxed outlook on life. In short, the idea of a "siesta" is not lost on them. While the bars (and there are hundreds if not thousands) are usually open, the restaurants do not open until 8:30 p.m., and generally not at all on Sunday. However, we did manage to find one that is, and it happened to have very good (and cheap) Tapas. Although off the beaten path it quickly became one of our favorites.

A view down the alley to one of our favorite bar/restaurants.

Vigo also has some amazing beaches! After what amounted to a 45 minute walk or a 6 Euro (~$8) cab ride from the ship we could either lay a towel down and get some sun or grab a drink at one of the bars that are literally on the sand. I was shocked to say the least in the shear number of people that were at the beach, and it seemed like there were more during the weekdays than the weekends. Must have something to do with the laid back lifestyle (?)

Playa Samil on a Tuesday.

The best beach (Rodas) in the world (The Guardian, 2007) can be found on one of three islands about 45 minutes (16 Euro, ~$20) by ferry named Illas Cies. The archipelago of Cies is also a Spanish National Park. An interesting thing about these islands is that they look like an above sea analog to what we are seeing sub-seafloor in the data. That is to say that they consist of a series of faulted crustal blocks (granite). The style of faulting is termed "Normal," which means that the hanging wall moved down relative to the foot wall. This type of faulting is indicative of extension and is expected along the length of this margin.

A view of Cies from Playa Samil with faults indicated by the arrows.

The part that we had been so patiently waiting for arrived after almost 3 weeks in this unique place. While I will not miss being in port, I am happy to have had the chance to see and experience this part of the world as it truly is a beautiful place.

Arrival of "La Cabeza" (the head).

James Gibson

Lamont-Doherty

The highs of going to sea again!

Welcome back to our blog! As of yesterday morning, we are back at sea and shortly we will resume acquiring 3D data. The repairs to the engine were more difficult than originally thought. We had the Rolls Royce engineers with us for the whole time, working with our fine engineers on the ship. You may not know that Rolls Royce makes really big engines like those in the Langseth. They worked to clean out the engine, ordered a number of parts, and the parts gradually arrived in Vigo. The engine was reassembled and tested at the dock. It worked again!

We sailed from Vigo at 0700 on 15 July with a partially new science team. Several people left the ship because they had conflicts with the extended cruise. They were Donna, Tim, Cesar, Mari, Brian, Steve, Luke, Marianne, Miguel, and Toby. Remaining were Dale, James, Raj, and Sarah. We could hardly do with a science team of four, so we recruited six newcomers. They are Natalie Accardo (Lamont), Milena Marjonovic (Lamont), Gaye Bayrakci (Southampton), Joao Pedro Tauscheck Zielinski (Madrid), Tessa Gregory (Southampton), and Katherine Coates (Southampton). We will try to get photos and bios up shortly.

We are deploying the seismic gear now. We have two streamers out and the third almost out. We hope to begin acquisition in the morning.

We are all excited about continuing our cruise and completing the 3D survey.

Dale Sawyer

Rice University

The highs of hump day and the lows of engine failure…

June 22 was officially hump day – we were halfway through our 43-day cruise. Happily, we were also about halfway through our data collection; we had just finished acquiring the primary lines in the southern part of our survey area, which was a major milestone.  The data are looking very nice (stay tuned for an upcoming post with some of the first images of features below the seafloor here from our new data!).  Now that we have been out for a while and the survey was proceeding smoothly, everyone had settled into their shifts and routines, and the science party was consumed with onboard processing and archival of the incoming data stream. Funny enough, hump day and the near completion of half of our survey almost coincided with the summer solstice and a very full moon!  It seemed like the convergence of many lucky omens.

Alas, it was not so. In the wee hours of the morning on June 24, the port engine failed as we were steaming along collecting data.  The ship has two engines (partially in case of just such an event!).  Fixing things at sea is obviously more complicated than fixing them on land, and the engineers onboard determined that the damage was significant and not quickly repaired. While we have the parts onboard to replace most of the known broken pieces, making the repairs and assessing the full extent of the damage is best done dockside. Thus we decided to pick up all our seismic gear and head back to Vigo to make the repairs.  It took us >3 days to deploy all of the streamers, paravanes, and associated kit, but only about 12 hours to recover them! Now we are limping back to Vigo through relatively rough (3-4 m) seas powered by one engine.  Once the damage and remedies for the port engine can be fully assessed, we can figure out our next move. Wish us luck!

Donna Shillington
LDEO