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2 July 2004
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SCIENTISTS GETTING READY and DRILLING CONTINUES
The scientists and marine laboratory specialists are making preparations in their labs for the cores we will be drilling some time next week. They are also writing the methods that they will be using to study the samples they receive. Microbiologists Fumio Inagaki (Japan), Bert Engelen (Germany), and Mark Lever (USA) gave this morning’s science talk; the subject was microbiology.
The drilling is going very well. I went to the drilling deck and found the bicenter drill bit that was used to drill into the top of basement, and watched as the 20-inch casing was assembled and lowered into the hole.
Here is a partial update for today given by Expedition Project Manager/IODP-USIO Staff Scientist Adam Klaus (USA):
“As of 0600, we have reached the target depth of ~271 mbsf for drilling the 21-1/2-inch hole. The bicenter bit worked well and Pepe said that the last ~2 m of hole drilled very hard. Now that we have reached the target depth, we are circulating a pill of mud (usually ~20 barrels of mud, but I'm not sure how much we are circulating this time) to help clean cuttings out of the hole. Then we'll conduct a wiper trip--raise the bit up and down in the newly-drilled portion of the hole to make sure the walls of the hole are in good shape (e.g., not falling/squeezing in). Once the bit is back down at the bottom of the hole, we'll displace the entire hole with sepiolite mud. This will help to keep the hole open while we are assembling the 16-inch casing. Today, we should be pulling out of the hole, tripping the drill string, starting the assembly and deployment of 16-inch casing.”
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 CHEF MARIO. Dinner tonight was excellent. There was a buffet of raw meat and vegetables. We put what we wanted right into a bowl and passed it to our chef, Mario Fernandes (Portugal). He passed it to Da Luz Carvalheira (Portugal) and Almeida Alegria (Portugal). Our Portuguese chefs then cooked up a delicious stir-fry to order. Yum!!!
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 SCIENTISTS HARD AT WORK. Organic Geochemists Marion Dumont (Sweden) and Verena Heuer (Germany) are working hard at completing their methods report that will be included in the Proceedings Of The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition Reports volume for Expedition 301. This volume will include an overview of the geology, scientific objectives, principal results, and summary of the expedition. It will also include explanatory notes describing research methods and core descriptions. This volume will be followed in a few years by a more comprehensive volume and scientific journal articles describing the results of the scientific research conducted by the scientists using samples and data collected during Expedition 301.
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 PREPARING FOR BACTERIA. Microbiologists Fumio Inagaki (Japan) and Satoshi Nakagawa (Japan) are checking vials of growth medium that will be used for the bacteria collected in the cores. These vials need to be anaerobic; when they were prepared an indicator for oxygen was placed in each vial to make sure no oxygen was present. Fumio and Satoshi are pleased to find that there is no oxygen in the vials. When the cores come in, these scientists will attempt to take bacteria samples from the pore rock, sediment, and basement basaltic rocks. They will place the samples in a variety of growth mediums designed to represent many different potential conditions in which the bacteria might live. They will then culture the bacteria and study them (much of this will be done onshore after the expedition).
Some of the research goals of the microbiologists are to identify and define: 1) the types of microorganisms living in the deep subseafloor; 2) connections between microbial community structures and lithology (rock type) and temperature; 3) the effect of fluid flow and subseafloor depth on microbial community structures; and 4) the effect of fluid flow and methane on microbial communities.
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 SCIENCE EQUIPMENT CHECK. Microbiologist Mark Lever (USA) checks a sample on one of the microscopes that are used by both microbiologists, petrologists, and micropaleontologists. The lab includes three Zeiss microscopes.
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 PALEOMAGNETICS LAB. Marine Laboratory Specialist Trevor Cobine (Australia) gave me a tour of the paleomagnetics lab. He is showing the computers used to control the labs superconducting magnetometer. See the next picture.
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 SUPERCONDUCTOR. Marine Laboratory Specialist Trevor Cobine (Australia) shows off the lab’s superconducting magnetometer. While I don’t yet understand the quantum physics involved, I was able to learn that this equipment is used to eliminate the effects of Earth’s magnetic field within the chamber where the rock samples are placed. Once this is accomplished, the machine measures the magnetic field of each rock sample (declination and inclination of naturally magnetized minerals); the sediments and rocks record the Earth’s magnetic field when they were deposited. The results will be used by scientists to help determine the spreading rates at the Juan de Fuca Ridge, and determine how the Pacific and Juan de Fuca oceanic plates have moved during the last 20 million years.
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 CORK ASSEMBLY. Inorganic Geochemist Sam Hulme (USA) and CORK Geochemist Geoff Wheat (USA) put the finishing touches on the control valves that will regulate sample flows from the CORKs when the subsea observatories are visited in the future by submarines or ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) in the future. CORKs are used just like those in a bottle, except that they are used to seal the top of holes drilled into the seafloor.
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 CORK INSPECTION. IODP Expedition Co-Chief Scientists Tetsuro Urabe (Japan) and Andy Fisher (USA), inspect the CORK valve components as CORK Geochemist Geoff Wheat (USA) looks on.
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 SUCCESSFUL DRILLING! The bicenter bit was successful at drilling a 21-inch hole into the first 10 meters or so of basement. If you look closely, you can see some of the drilling mud with ground up pieces of basalt in it caked to the upper part of the drill bit. The bit just came out of the hole and will be washed and stored away.
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 CASING. This is Ralph Maher (Canada), the crane operator, preparing the 16-inch casing so that it can be placed on the pipe racker. The hole is ready to be cased to the top of basement to seal off unstable sediments and rocks so that we can drill deeper.
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 Casing is being raised by the drawworks where it will be assembled and lowered into the hole.
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 DRILLING TO CONTINUE. This rotary bit will be used to drill a 14-inch diameter hole into the upper part of basement in preparation for the final string of 10-3/5-inch casing that will be cemented into the hole to protect it from collapsing. This bit doesn’t have coring capabilities. Core samples will be collected after the next string of casing is in place in a few days. Core bits have a hole through the middle to allow collection of core samples.
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