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Teachers
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Expedition 301
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Journal
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14 July 2004
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HARD DRILLING, REMOTE CAMERA, WHALE and CUP PREPARATION
The hole has presented some difficult problems. Drilling through the upper part of the basement has been successful, but we did hit the same two “rubbly” intervals that caused problems in the Hole 1301A. The drillers are attempting to set the 10 3/4-inch casing. It is very frustrating because they can get all but the last 2 meters into the hole. That is not good enough; they have to get it seated into place so that the CORK subsea observatory can be properly attached. If the casing cannot be lowered the last 2 meters, it will have to be pulled back up to the ship, shortened, and then put back down. If it is shortened, Hole 1301B could turn into a shallow observatory hole. The scientists would be disappointed because a deep hole with many different intervals to sample is much more desirable for the experiments that they want to undertake.
Several of the scientists, technicians, and myself have prepared Styrofoam cups to be lowered down to the bottom of the ocean to see how the approximately 260 atmospheres of pressure will affect them (of course, we also get souvenirs).
During lunch, a whale visited. It swam by and inspected us as it completely circled the ship before moving along its way.
Here is a partial update for today given by Expedition Project Manager/IODP-USIO Staff Scientist Adam Klaus (USA):
“Andy, Tetsuro, Keir, Geoff, and I just finished a meeting with Mike, Derryl, and Richard to discuss the sequence of operations after we finish installing the 10-3/4-inch casing. The current plan is to do the following (note, however, that this plan is subject to ongoing discussions with IODP Operations guys, the TSF drilling leaders, and scientists):
#1. Offset the ship to Hole 1026B and attempt remove the mini-cone that is sitting on top of the CORK. The mini-cone is the very corroded whitish cone on top of the CORK body in the attached PDF. We need to do this before we retrieve the CORK later in the cruise, as the mini-cone may prevent the CORK recovery tool from properly latching on. If there are any problems in retrieving the mini-cone, we want to find out sooner than later so we have time to consider how to deal with it. We'll return later in the cruise to remove/replace the entire CORK.
#2. Return to Hole 1301A.
a. The first thing we will do is to drill out the cement retainer/cement shoe with a 9-7/8-inch bit and then use the bit to check how much of the non-cased hole at the bottom is still open. We'll do this by lowering the bit slowly without rotating (perhaps the drillers might want to just slightly pump water too). As soon as the bit encounters any resistance, we'll stop and this will tell us the maximum depth we can attempt to install the 4-inch casing of the CORK.
b. Deploy a logging BHA with the drill string packers (I'll explain this later!). We'll lower this into the hole and then set the packer in the lower part of the casing and conduct pump and slug tests.
c. Deploy CORK.
#3. Return to Hole 1301B, drill out cement, RCB core.
The meetings today and tomorrow may need to be adjusted depending on helicopter arrival (sometime Thursday) and/or critical drilling operation meetings or events.”
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 As I was eating lunch today, the announcement came over the ship intercom that there was a whale on the port side. Every other time I hear this I run through the ship and just miss it. Today, I was lucky. This whale was very interested in our ship and swam all the way around it before swimming off. All of us who came out managed a glimpse of this magnificent 30-40 foot (10-13 meter) mammal.
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 DRILLING CAMERA. This morning we reentered Hole 1301B with the 10 3/4-inch casing string. Every time the drill string goes to the bottom it has to line up with the reentry cone. This camera assembly is hooked around the drill string and lowered by cable through the moonpool and down until it is just above the bottom assembly. The operations and dynamic positioning people can watch the television monitor and use it to guide them as they move the ship and the drill string directly over the cone so that the string can be lowered into the borehole. If you look closely, you can see the camera; it is the small cylinder just outside the ring with bars—it has the yellowish hose that is curved over on itself.
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 This massive winch is used to lower and raise the camera assembly down to the bottom of the drill string. This drum has 6,000 meters of cable on it. Samson (Sammy) Bogador Fadri, Assistant Driller (Philippines), is below the winch waiting for the camera’s return from the bottom of the ocean.
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 Joe (Bubba) Attryde, Core Technician (USA), is at the controls lowering the camera assembly. I spent 45 minutes chatting with Bubba about the camera, cable, and life. He is a pretty cool person to visit with if you ever run into him. When he isn’t spending his time on the JOIDES Resolution, he is a volunteer deputy sheriff in Arizona. His specialty is man-hunting when someone is lost in the wilderness or running from the law. He is also an avid competitive shooter.
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 HE TRUSTED ME?!! Bubba trusted me to run the camera assembly while I posed for a picture. Actually, if you look very closely, I was only allowed touch the control and pretend. NO WAY was I going to make that thing go off the end of the drill string. If it comes off it could delay the whole drilling operation for several hours.
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 Cup day is tomorrow. We are going to put the Styrofoam cups into a laundry bag and attach it to the camera assembly to lower it to the bottom of the ocean to observe what will happen to them when they are subjected to approximately 260 atmospheres of pressure (approximately 3,821 psi). Look closely - can you see your name on a cup??? Many people have made cups to give to friends or loved ones. I am sitting with Lisa Hawkins, Undergraduate Student Trainee (USA).
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 Tetsuro Urabe, Co-Chief Scientist (Japan), presented his research on drilling into a seafloor hydrothermal system in an island-arc. It was a very interesting study of the ecosystem and temperature variations and how they are related to structural features in an island-arc setting.
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 HOLE CHALLENGES. It has been a very difficult day. The 10 3/4-inch casing will not go all the way into the hole; it is 2 frustrating meters short. The drillers have worked all day to get it to go down without success. Here the cement pumping assembly (the blue piece with the hose attached) is used to pump cement down the assembly and up around the pipe to permanently seal the casing in. Unfortunately, every time we take the time to add this to the top of the drill string, the casing gets stuck - ugh!
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 Nick Parish, Driller (USA), looks on as Wayne Malone, Offshore Installation Manager (USA), works in the driller shack to try to lower the 10 3/4-inch casing into the hole. The lever he is holding is the break that keeps the drawworks (the very large yellow assembly that holds the drill string) from being lowered too quickly.
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 ANXIOUS TIMES… Andy Fisher, Co-Chief Scientist (USA), watches intently with several scientists and drillers as the casing is being worked in an attempt to lower it the last 2 meters into the hole.
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