Coring Cruise Day 10

We brought 5 different types of coring devices with us for this trip. So far, we have collected many samples using piston cores, gravity cores, and multi-cores. The remaining 2 devices are Kasten cores and vibracores. Part of today’s plan was a Kasten core demonstration. Instead of a cylindrical tube, a Kasten core uses a long rectangular box to collect a greater amount of sediment.

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Watch 1 spent a nice chunk of time putting it together, and our trusty techs mounted it for deployment. Sadly, a mechanical issue prevented us from going through with the deployment. Still, being able to see one put together gave some of the science party ideas of what kind of samples we could get with it in the future.

While we’re here…
Since the Kasten core is no longer an option, we replaced it with a piston core. Might as well pick up some mud while we’re in the area.

After the last piston core, we packed up the long core supplies and set up for our final core type: vibracores. Vibracores use a motor to vibrate the core tube, effectively liquefying the sediment just touching the tube, allowing it to sink into the seafloor. The bridge crew has set a course to our last stop before Newport, and we hope to be ready for vibracoring early in the morning.

Packing up Pieces
We did some packing and cleaning today to prepare for the end of the cruise. While we plan to vibracore tomorrow, our piston and gravity coring days have come to an end. This photo shows a piece of the core-mount being lifted away to be packed up.

As night fell upon us, so did disaster. Network outage! Our survey screens went dark and we are unable to see the seafloor. Our computing technician started working on the problem right away! This sort of outage is extremely rare on this vessel. Thankfully we already have survey data from the area, and the bridge is still equipped to get us where we need to go.

Disco Mode
Some of the screens went dark as others popped on and off at the beginning of the outage. We called it ‘disco mode,’ finding humor in the situation while seriously tackling the problem!

All things considered, we have had a remarkably smooth trip with a number of successful cores. You can imagine how much work and coordination went into each of them. From planning, geophysical survey, and sight selection to core preparation, deployment, and retrieval to splitting, description, imaging, and finally archiving! We may have had a few hiccups today, but we are happy to have accomplished so much thus far!

We’ll be finishing strong on our final day tomorrow aboard the RV Roger Revelle!!