It has been almost two weeks that we left the port of Fremantle. On most days since then, each of us has been on a 12-hours 'watch'; for example, I am on a midnight-to-noon watch. During this time we work on samples that we collected, take necessary notes and describe samples in detail. Sediment/mud, once taken out from the ocean bottom, starts changing very fast as it comes in contact with the atmosphere. So we have a rather short time window to document its pristine features. As I mentioned earlier, on this cruise I am interested in water chemistry; so all my samples are primarily ocean water. These water samples also need to be filtered and acidified so that any biological organisms that are present in the water do not get to grow and change the water chemistry in the container. Much of Yingzhe's and my time have been taken up treating and processing these water samples. To do all this in a moving lab, which gives us a shake every now and then to throw us off our feet, is no easy feat. Irrespective of this non-ideal working condition, we are making progress and will be in the roaring 40s in the next couple of days. Some fun things did happen in the midst of all these laboratory works. One day we spotted a whale which was moving parallel to our vessel. We all gathered at the front deck to watch, although it was a bit far to take pictures (sorry, will try next time). It was amazing to see such big and stunningly beautiful creatures that inhabit our oceans. A bird or two would occasionally pay us a visit. I find this refreshing after spending 14 days on a ship out in the ocean. We have been sampling at all hours of the day, and sampling at night is really interesting because we get to see different sea creatures. Almost every time we sampled at night, we have been fortunate because the ship’s light attracts marine creatures towards it. Another exciting event that kept us occupied is when manganese nodules were retrieved while coring for sediment. These nodules look like popcorns. Manganese nodules accrete on the bottom of the ocean and are full of.....wait for it.....Manganese as well as other valuable elements. Decades ago it was believed that those nodules could be mined for valuable minerals. A lot of researchers spent their entire career studying these nodules, but in the end it was not deemed appropriate to mine the bottom of the ocean, as the environmental impact of this mining would cause more damage than good. If you have ever taken an oceanography course and have seen pictures of manganese nodules, then the picture in this post will certainly confirm that what you learned in that class really exists. Comments are closed.
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AuthorChemical oceanographer, Paleoceanographer, Chef-in-my-kitchen.......not necessarily in that order. Archives
December 2018
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