Interactive Oceans

Our Chief Scientist John Delaney is doing an AMA (ask me anything) on Reddit this afternoon at 1 pm PDT! Submit your own questions or follow along as he answers others!

http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/2hisjh/science_ama_series_im_professor_john_delaney_from/

Science AMA Series: I'm Professor John Delaney from the University of Washington in Seattle. I... I am approximately 300 miles off the coast of Oregon, and nearly a mile above the summit of an active submarine volcano called Axial Seamount....

It's the home stretch! We are back out for the last 4 days of VISIONS '14 and there are only a few dives left as we complete the installation of the largest cabled network in the world. Follow along with us!

http://www.interactiveoceans.washington.edu/story/Live_VISIONS_14

We are back out for leg 5 and tomorrow we begin the deployment of a second two-legged shallow profiler mooring. Follow along with us on the live stream at
http://www.interactiveoceans.washington.edu/story/Live_VISIONS_14

Live VISIONS 14 1000: We will be departing from Newport at 1600 this aftenoon. We are currently testing heavy-lift winches on the back deck that will be used in the deployment of two shallow water profiler moorings. Live streaming will resume upon departure.

Today we finished installing a complex instrument assembly and winched profiler on the two-legged shallow water profiler! This profiler will allow us to sample the upper water column with a winched instrument pod, from 200m to 20m below the sea surface! This was a vey engineering and ROV intensive operation, and it went off incredibly well! Read the blog post at http://www.interactiveoceans.washington.edu/story/Success_at_Oregon_Offshore

Success at Oregon Offshore Today marked a historic moment for the OOI-RSN, with the successful installation of 1) a large, complex instrument assembly and 2) an instrumented shallow winched profiler on the 13 ft across mooring platform at 197 m water depth at the Oregon Offshore Site. This system is a remarkable engineering f…

Last night on a quick dive to retrieve a beacon from the shallow profiler mooring anchor, we saw all sorts of awesome critters including a color-changing squid, curious fish, an octopus, and much more! Check out the photos on the blog post:
http://www.interactiveoceans.washington.edu/story/High_Waves%2C_Deep_Methane

High Waves, Deep Methane Bubble plumes above Southern Hydrate Ridge Summit as imaged by the R/V Thompson's sidescan sonar. These sonar surveys were used to plan CTD casts to sample for methane in the water column.

Yesterday was a momentous day in the construction of the Ocean Observatories Initiative seafloor cabled network -- we were able to plug into a primary node! This signifies the potential to begin turning on and testing the instrumentation that will provide OOI users with a near real-time, continuous window into the deep ocean!
http://www.interactiveoceans.washington.edu/story/The_Golden_Spike

The Golden Spike ROPOS collecting the dummy plugs and parking brakes from plugging infrastructure into primary node PN3B at Axial Caldera. A spider crab can be seen in the background.

We are back out for Leg 2! The main goal of this leg is to install RSN Deep Profiling moorings and associated seafloor infrastructure near the base of the subduction zone at the Slope Base Site and the base of Axial Seamount.

Follow along with us at http://www.interactiveoceans.washington.edu/story/VISIONS_14

VISIONS 14: Completing Construction of the OOI RSN

Check out this awesome video made by student Christina Ramirez about ROPOS and some of the instruments we are deploying this summer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CwoJhGa4zU

Instruments Discover the Ocean A group of instruments set out to discover the deep sea 5000 ft beneath the ocean's surface on an active underwater volcano.

The Central Caldera Site is all installed and tonight we tackle laying the 4.7 km cable from there to Primary Node PN3B! Make sure to tune in to the live stream!

http://www.interactiveoceans.washington.edu/story/Installing_the_Central_Caldera_Site

Installing the Central Caldera Site A resistivity-temperature probe, developed by Dr. Marv Lilley at the University of Washington, was deployed into a 270°C actively venting or***ce on the chimney called Escargot. Resistivity is an analogue for chlorinity. Some of the vents in the International District are boiling, causing release of…

Installing J Boxes and Instruments In International District Vent Field Last night and into the early morning, large swells up to 10 feet tall kept us from diving with the heavy junction boxes, which can weigh >2500 lbs.

Final talk of UWAA/SAL spring 2014 lecture series will feature what promises to be a lively dialogue between John Delaney and UW professor of oceanography and astrobiology, John Baross. Together they will explore the role of submarine volcanoes in the origin and evolution of life on Earth and the potential for finding life in similar settings on other planets and moons. Baross led the National Academy of Sciences committee that provided guidance for scientific study of the limits of organic life in planetary systems. Delaney served on NASA committees that defined the nature of missions to the icy moons of Jupiter.

Talk begins at 7 pm, Tuesday, May 20, Kane Hall 120, UW campus. Students free with valid ID. Individual tickets: $20 at the door.

Coming up on Tuesday, 6 May: Next in John Delaney's lecture series on the Global Ocean. This talk will focus on hydrothermal systems associated with underwater volcanoes. Join us at 7 pm in Kane Hall 120 on the UW Seattle Campus. Students may attend free of charge, with valid student ID. Individual tickets for this event, which is co-sponsored by Seattle Arts and Lectures and the UW Alumni Association, may be purchased at the door for $20. For details and information on series tickets, see below.

Seattle Arts & Lectures \ Season \ SAL U: A U for You John Delaney, of the UW School of Oceanography, is leading the team funded by the National Science Foundation to build an innovative underwater network in the northeast Pacific Ocean.