FerrOCious Gulf Blog

The last day has arrived.  At the beginning of this cruise, we were looking at the calendar thinking what a long spans of time this would amount to.  We were open to such an array of possibilities, so many new people to learn from and work with, the experience as a whole seemed overwhelming.  Now, […]

We have received many questions regarding :”What is it like being out on a research vessel for 21 days?!”  Well, we have made a little photo montage of all the extras that go on around the science  on board.  We hope you like it! ***Gallery coming soon***

So we’ve talked a lot in previous blogs about the various ways Iron is being tested for, and used to test for other metals.  However, we really haven’t discussed Germanium’s role as a proxy, or what a proxy is for that matter.  Proxies are used in the case of research as an indicator of the […]

  I’m sure for some of you that phrase conjures an image of Robert Downey Jr. in a shiny red suit armed with weapons and a snarky remark.  For others a riff from Black Sabbath may begin playing in your mind.  Yet, this is a nickname given to an individual whose theories are still causing […]

  A new dimension of perspective has been brought to our attention during this experience: the world of trace-metal sampling and studies.  We have been fortunate enough to be asked to help out with some of the sampling processes throughout the trip, and each method is as different as the investigator requesting the sample.  As […]

This morning started out as another early one, with Dr. Jim McManus, Dr. Will Berelson, Chris Moser, and Bill Fanning using the ship’s depth finder to determine a suitable spot for deploying the Lander at its 7th site.  They found favorable conditions at around 154 meters’ depth.  Once the spot was chosen, and breakfast was […]

Today our activities were very H20rientated.  After last night’s, or I should say this morning’s, recovery of the pumps around 2am, activities were pushed back for the day.  The CTD cast for water collection started our day off as usual, to gain a solid profile of the water being collected.  Soon after we deployed the […]

The definition of “prospecting” is to search for mineral or metal deposits, or oil.  While we are not on a hunt for substances to give us all an early retirement, we are in fact on the search for Iron and Sulfide-rich sediments, as well as trace-metals such as Germanium, found both in hypoxic conditions and […]

Today, we awoke at our location for Station #5.  The overnight steam brought us to our deepest depth yet, at 90m.  Before we sent any instruments down near the bottom, we knew the sediment was very light weight because it was causing the depth finder to jump by 10 meters every second.  The sediments were […]

The day began early again, with Dr. Jim McManus, Bill Fanning, and me out to deploy the CTD at 06:15 local time.  The ship had been circling the Lander throughout the night, as a mother bear would watch out for her cub.  On the fast brightening horizon, you could just make out the strobe on […]