(November 24, 2022) --
Greetings from the R/V Kilo Moana! And Happy Thanksgiving! We have been at sea for 4 days. I have done so many new things, and we have collected so many great samples from our first site along the Mariana forearc.
It has been really interesting being at sea, being in constant motion both literally and figuratively. We had our first dive to collect samples from one of the Mariana forearcs serpentinite mud volcanoes, Asut Tesoru. I was able to help set up our water sampler called the Hydrothermal Organic Geochemistry sampler (HOG) and connect it to the ROV JASON for our first dive.
The JASON was able to successfully collect many samples including water samples, push cores, and rocks. We collected the samples from the first dive and processed them for future analysis of the microbial communities in the water and sediments, and then we turned the sampler around to get ready for the next dive at the next site.
It has been so amazing to see how much work goes into planning every detail of these dives. It is incredible. The JASON started its second dive at our next location today, so I can’t wait to see our new samples! 4 days down 23 more to go! Sea you soon. 😊