REVEL
Calendar and Schedules

Oceanographic research is forever bowed to the whims of the sea's disposition! The following letter from Chief Scientist Delaney reflects the degree of flexibility with which modern oceanographers must plan their work in the open ocean.

We expect to depart the Seattle dock at 1100 h on the morning of August 12. We will proceed to our principal site of operations on the northern Juan de Fuca Ridge. The coordinates of that site are approximately N47 56.9 and W129 06. En route we will plan to spend several hours doing a test deployment of the ROPOS vehicle and perhaps the CTD to insure that handling and electrical connections are operating effectively. We expect to be on site by mid day on the 13th and will plan to deploy additional transponders in vicinity of the Main Endeavour Vent Field; between one and three transponders will suffice. The operation takes about 2-3 hours each transponder. Following deployment we will have to survey the transponder net and iterate on the survey points to optimize the positions of the transponders on the seafloor. Upon completion of these activities we will launch ROPOS to begin operations. As long as the operations are proceeding satisfactorily we will continue to use ROPOS. We may experiment with using elevators to insure that the ROPOS bottom time is optimized. This will be coordinated with Ship's personnel.

It is our intention when ROPOS stands down for significant lengths of time (greater than 2 hours) to employ one of three other operations: 1) the CTD-Rosette in either a stationery water-cast mode, or in a Tow-Yo mode, 2) the Hydrosweep System for mapping west and south of the main operational site, and, 3) rock recovery systems consisting of either a gravity dart corer for recovering tiny fragments of volcanic glass, or a dredging system to be employed late in the cruise.

At sometime during the cruise we expect to transit south to approximately N46 30 W129 38 to conduct operations with ROPOS for at least one dive and perhaps more. The entire operation should not exceed 2 days. On the transit both ways to and from the Main Endeavour Site we will use the multibeam mapping system and probably transit at between 8 and 10 knots.

We plan to arrive at the Chittenden Locks after noon, but before rush hour on Aug 27. At present we do not expect to have any VIP boarding parties as we transit the Straits and the Sound to Seattle.

Best Regards,

John R. Delaney,
Chief Scientist