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Teachers
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Expedition 301
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Journal
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15 July 2004
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DRILLING and SHRINKING CUPS
The drillers are working very hard today to clean the hole out so that we can set the 10 3/4-inch casing. They reentered the hole with a 14-inch tricone drill bit and are drilling repeatedly through the rubble zones that seem to be causing the problems (see yesterday’s entries). Once the drillers are convinced that the problem interval is cleaned, they will bring up the drill bit, and trip back in with the 10 3/4-inch casing for another attempt.
We were able to send our styrofoam cups to the bottom of the ocean today. You should be impressed with the effect that 260 atmospheres of pressure has on the Styrofoam.
Here is a partial update for today given by Adam Klaus, Expedition Project Manager/IODP-USIO Staff Scientist (USA):
“The guys on the rig floor are fast! When I woke up this morning the casing was already taken apart, stored away down in the casing hold, and we were already running back down to the seafloor with the 14-inch tricone drill bit. We just reentered (~1015) and next we'll drill out the bottom of the hole.
Due high demand for the helicopter for pilot transfers, the helicopter run to the ship will not occur today.”
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 CLEANING OUT THE HOLE. We are not giving up on the deep potential for this hole. The drillers have gone back into the hole with a 14-inch tricone bit and are attempting to clean out whatever was preventing the casing from latching in place. They have been working on the hole all day. Everyone is hoping it works so we can get a deep hole for the CORK and so we can get cores of basement rocks. Fernando (Nandy) Punsalan, Assistant Driller (Philippines), is looking at how much we have advanced.
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 FORMATION WATER SAMPLES. In a couple of days, we will be returning to Hole 1301A and drilling out the cement that was put in after setting the 10 3/4-inch casing. Once this is done, there will be a packer test done on the open hole below the casing to evaluate the permeability (how fast the water can flow through the rocks) of the ocean basement. Here Geoff Wheat, CORK Geochemist (USA), is in the Downhole Measurements Lab describing the overflow chamber of the Water Sampler Temperature Probe (WSTP) to the scientists that need the water for their research. The WSTP will be used to take a sample of the formation water from Hole 1301A. The other scientists are (from left to right) Marion Dumont, Organic Geochemist (Sweden); Mark Lever, Microbiologist (USA); Bert Engelen, Microbiologist (Germany); Satoshi Nakagawa, Microbiologist (Japan); Takuroh Noguchi, Inorganic Geochemist (Japan); Fumio Inagaki, Microbiologist (Japan); and Bjoern Steinsbu, Microbiologist (Norway).
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 MARK NIELSON’S TALK. Mark Nielson, Physical Properties Specialist (USA), gave his science talk titled “In Situ Microbial Activity in Basalt Aquifers.” He described research that he did at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory in Sweden. The lab is located underground in a mine! In addition, he described the microbial work he plans to do for his doctoral program.
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 BIG EATER!!! Most of us like the food in the galley, as you can see from this photo. However, Mark Lever, Microbiologist (USA), must really love it. He eats two full meals at each setting; after he finished this he went back for another full selection. Since there are people working out here 24 hours a day, the galley provides four main meals each day (0500-0700, 1100-1300, 1700-1900, and 2300-0100). There are also four “cookie breaks” a day (0900, 1500, 2100, 0300)!
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 CUP TIME! It is finally time to pack up our cups to send down to the bottom of the ocean to test the effects of 260 atmospheres of pressure on Styrofoam. Gerardo (Gerry) Iturrino, Logging Staff Scientist (USA), holds a spare laundry bag as Rosalind Coggon, Igneous and Metamorphic Petrologist (UK), and Lisa Hawkins, Undergraduate Student Trainee (USA), pack in the cups.
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 CUPS IN A BAG. The cups are in the laundry bag and ready for their journey. There are paper towels in them to keep them separated if, as we believe, they shrink.
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 RETURN FROM THE BOTTOM. The camera assembly is being brought back up from the ocean bottom. It was used today during the reentry of the 14-inch tricone drill bit; the camera is used to watch the reentry and make sure the drill bit is lined up with the center of the reentry cone before it is lowered. If you look closely, you can see the cup bag hitchhiking on the upper right part of the camera frame.
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 BUBBA COLLECTS THE CUPS. Joe (Bubba) Attryde, Core Technician (USA) removes the cups from the camera assembly after it has been safely stowed. Everyone seems amused with our project. Others in the picture from left to right are Fernando (Nandy) Punsalan, Assistant Driller (Philippines); Samson (Sammy) Fadri, Assistant Driller (Philippines); Juan Vito, Derrickman (Philippines); and Gregorio (Jo-Jo) Magtanong, Floorman (Philippines).
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 PROUD CUPSTERS!!! I was very excited to draw on cups and send them down below. At least I thought I was! Lisa Hawkins, Undergraduate Student Trainee (USA), and Rosalind Coggon, Igneous and Metamorphic Petrologist (UK), redefined excitement. They are happily displaying this morning’s “catch.”
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 SHRUNKEN CUPS. What happened to the cups? Why are they smaller? They were exposed to tremendous pressure that compacted the Styrofoam. Some of us had a debate as to whether or not there is air in the Styrofoam, or if the molecules making it up are loosely “packed” without air. How could we test this question? We couldn’t justify sending the camera down to film the bag with more cups in it to watch for bubbles, so we did the next best thing - we went to the Internet. To find the answer try the following site: www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/chem00/chem00295.htm.
Here are two other informative sites on Styrofoam:
http://www.dow.com/styrofoam/ap/china/prod/tech.htm
http://www.cardhouse.com/x07/x07science.htm
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 NUTS FOR CUPS. We were looking for something for a scale so that you could see how small the cups really got. Thank you Lisa Hawkins, Undergraduate Student Trainee (USA), for your creative solution.
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