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Teachers
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Expedition 301
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Journal
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12 August 2004
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HOLE 1301B CORK ASSEMBLY, SAMPLING, and “FAT BOY SPECIAL”
It has been a busy day around the ship. The rig floor crew, engineers, technicians, and several of the scientists spent their day on the rig floor or at the moonpool completing the assembly of the Hole 1301B CORK. It was finally completed and deployed late in the evening. This CORK assembly took such a long time because it is designed to test multiple levels of the basement. It includes about 400 meters of 4 1/2-inch casing, 2 different types of umbilical cords, 3 packers, a large number of centralizers, and the CORK head.
There was quite a bit of activity in the core laboratory today as the petrologists, geochemists, sedimentologists, and loggers attended the hard rock (not “Café”) sampling party to mark the specimens to be collected for their shore-based research.
Late in the evening I found out what the “Fat Boy Special” is… It was good, but something I don’t want to experience often. Read on to find out what this could be.
Here is a partial update for today given by Adam Klaus, Expedition Project Manager/IODP-USIO Staff Scientist (USA):
It took almost a full day to put together the CORK assembly. Once again a good team effort by all involved - drill floor staff, engineers, techs, and scientists. Using two types of umbilicals - microbiology hose with interior coated in Teflon and complex (yellow) pressure/water sampling umbilical - added lots of time to splice. It also took quite a bit longer to attach and secure the new bow-spring centralizers. A few more hours and we should be reentering Hole 1301B yet again (I've lost count of how many times although it must be >12 I think - I'll ask Mike). Then we'll lower the CORK down to the problematic casing. Hopefully, the smooth joints of 4 1/2-inch casing at the bottom will pass easily through it and lead the rest of the CORK with it. More than likely, though, it will require some rotation... Now, you may not remember, but the CORK running tool is not really designed to rotate- as this is partly how it unlatches from the CORK head. Also, rotating a CORK assembly with umbilical and centralizers on the outside is also not a great thing. If we must, we will rotate it a little to get it to pass into the lower 10 3/4-inch casing. We also modified the CORK running tool so that it can be rotated a bit without unlatching (added a shear pin) - yet another real-time engineering solution on the JOIDES Resolution! So, keep your fingers crossed as tonight is a really critical step for completing this installation. After installing this CORK, we'll deploy the ROV/sub platform and then head off to Hole 1027C.
Countdown to Astoria: 8 days
Tired Alert (now replaces "6 Week Effect Alert")
Tired Alert Level: Yellow-Red
(low- Green; medium- Yellow; high- Red)”
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 CORK ASSEMBLY CONTINUES. This morning when I got up, I thought that the CORK would be deployed shortly because of the view of the CORK head that I had on the way into the downhole measurements laboratory (to the left of the picture). It turned out that there was A LOT still to be done. The preparations took the rest of the afternoon and early evening.
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 MARKING THE SAMPLING LINES. There is a lot to do to assemble a CORK subseafloor observatory. Here, the technicians and operations folks are working together to attach the sampling lines within the umbilical cord to the correct lines on the CORK head. It is a critical task because each line is dedicated to a specific sampling horizon or sample type. There are 9 sample lines in this umbilical cord and one line in a second cord that is also attached to this CORK assembly.
Shown from left to right are: Derryl Schroeder, Operations Engineer (USA); Mike Storms, Operations Manager (USA); and Joe (Bubba) Attryde, Core Technician (USA).
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 UNIQUE VIEW. The CORK head is very long… about 9.5 meters (~31 feet). Because of its length, while the sampling lines in the umbilical cord are being attached to the CORK head, the upper part of the head extends up through the drilling floor. If you look closely, you can see the yellow top drive that is holding the entire CORK assembly.
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 SUNSET. The sky was painted for us again as the sun slipped over the western horizon of the Pacific Ocean. I was very surprised that the work on the CORK was completed not long before this picture was taken… I thought it would be done by lunchtime—there is a lot of work to their assembly!
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 “FAT BOY SPECIAL.” Okay, here it is. The scientists affectionately use the term “fat boy special” if someone stays up long enough to eat at each of the 4 meals in one 24-hour period. Hey!!! At least I didn’t “super-size” it. That would have meant having desert with each meal. We still haven’t come up with a name for having all of the meals and hitting each cookie break in a single day.
Shown is Jonathan Rice, Teacher at Sea (USA).
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 HARD ROCK SAMPLING PARTY. The last big event for the core laboratory took place today as the basement basalt cores were laid out for the scientists to choose their samples for research. The scientists each have a set of stickers that they use to mark the samples they would like to take home.
Shown from left to right are: Takuroh Noguchi, Inorganic Geochemist (Japan); Shoichi Kiyokawa, Sedimentologist (Japan); and Takeshi Tsuji, Logging Scientist (Japan).
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 CRITICAL TASK. A lot is riding on selecting the right samples. Roz is interested in comparing the geochemistry of the carbonate veins to the geochemistry of the fluids in the overlying sediments. She needs these samples for her dissertation. If she doesn’t get the samples she needs, she will have to do some serious scrambling to get another project together... Hey Simon!!! Are you out there??? Roz said she is looking for a big diamond… in the core.
Shown is: Rosalind (Roz) Coggon, Igneous and Metamorphic Petrologist (UK).
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 READY FOR SAMPLING. This core has been marked by all interested scientists. The next step will be for the scientists to get together to debate any sampling conflicts in which 2 or more people want the same sample. The final step is for the marine laboratory specialists to use the various saws and drills in the laboratory to cut the samples, and then package them for storage until the end of the cruise.
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 IODP EXPEDITION 301 SCIENCE PARTY. This is a photo that was taken by Bill Crawford, Image Specialist (USA).
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 1. Mark Lever, Microbiologist (USA)
2. Bjoern Steinsbu, Microbiologist (Norway)
3. Jonathan Rice, Teacher at Sea (USA)
4. Keir Becker, CORK Hydrologist (USA)
5. Anne Bartetzko, Logging Scientist (Germany)
6. Mike Hutnak, Physical Properties Specialist (USA)
7. Andy Fisher, Co-Chief Scientist (USA)
8. Rosalind (Roz) Coggon, Igneous and Metamorphic Petrologist (UK)
9. Lisa Hawkins, Undergraduate Student Trainee (USA)
10. Verena Heuer, Organic Geochemist (Germany)
11. Bert Engelen, Microbiologist (Germany)
12. Satoshi Nakagawa, Microbiologist (Japan)
13. Geoff Wheat, CORK Geochemist (USA)
14. Marion Dumont, Organic Geochemist (Sweden)
15. Takeshi Tsuji, Logging Scientist (Japan)
16. Fumio Inagaki, Microbiologist (Japan)
17. Mark Nielson, Physical Properties Specialist (USA)
18. Tetsuro Urabe, Co-chief Scientist (Japan)
19. Adam Klaus, Expedition Project Manager/IODP-USIO Staff Scientist (USA)
20. Takuroh Noguchi, Inorganic Geochemist (Japan)
21. Shoichi Kiyokawa, Sedimentologist (Japan)
22. Shusako Goto, Physical Properties Specialist (Japan)
23. Masumi Sakaguchi, Igneous and Metamorphic Petrologist (Japan)
24. Gerardo (Gerry) Iturrino, Logging Staff Scientist (USA)
25. Will Sager, Paleomagnetist (USA)
26. Samuel (Sam) Hulme, Inorganic Geochemist (USA)
Click here for photo with name chart.
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