FerrOCious Gulf Blog

It’s beginning to set in that the end of our expedition is near. Today the last deployal of the two Landers as well as final GO-Flo’s and In-Situ Pumps were performed. The team is starting to take apart their equipment and pack up their gear and samples for the trips home. Scientists are on board […]

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 […]

As you’ve probably gathered by now, out here in the Gulf of Mexico we are on a hunt. Not for food or large mammals to shoot pictures of; we are on the hunt for chemicals. Elements ranging on the periodic table from those as commonly known as oxygen and iron, to others rarely ever mentioned, […]

  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 […]

After our deployment of the CTD this morning, followed by GO-Flo and In-Situ Pump number 13, George Maltby, Endeavor’s Assistant Engineer, was kind enough to give me a tour of the water treatment facilities on board the Endeavor. A couple of things surprised and impressed me about the systems on board the Endeavor. If you’ve […]

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 […]

First thing this morning was retrieving the Lander. It had been left at its most recent station for over 2 days where it had been collecting water samples at pre-set times. The whole science team was quiet as they waited patiently for the Lander to surface, hoping that something didn’t go wrong and keep the […]

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 […]

Today our crew was on the hunt. We are currently at our southernmost point since we headed out into the Gulf of Mexico nearly a week and a half ago; finding a flat sea floor is harder than you might think out here. A flat ground is necessary to use the multi-corer. Without a flat […]