Basalt and styrofoam

Date: 2011/10/18
Time: 03:59:08 GMT
Latitude: 9 ° 38.45778 N
Longitude: 104 ° 15.45264 W
In addition to the selfless liberation of tube worms from the seafloor, the group from Vienna managed to liberate several rocks for us. These mid-ocean ridge basalts were on a long 20 million year trip ending in their subduction beneath Central America and eventual incorporation back into the mantle. Instead, they've won an all expenses paid trip to Panama followed by their eventual deposition in our New York apartments. If you take a look at the image, you can see the glassy chilled margin on the outside of this basalt, a testament to its extrusion in water and a very effective way to get splinters of glass in your fingertips.

In addition, all of us spent time making shrunken cups for ourselves and our loved ones. We sent them down on the elevator that carried the tube worms to the surface. The concept behind these cups is simple. As the cups are transported to the bottom of the seafloor, the pressure of the water increases. At 2500 meters (8000 feet), a cup is feeling a pressure of about 250 bars, or, more impressively, 3640 pounds per square inch. The Styrofoam isn't really made for these kinds of conditions and gets compressed, the end consequence of which is that the cup is turned into a miniature of its former self. Suffice it to say, they're really popular as gifts. While those of us new to the ritual naturally wanted to take part, we were surprised by the avid response from the PIs. This may be the first step in instituting weekly LDEO Marine Geology & Geophysics coloring time.

Lately, our group has been working on processing data from the multibeam connected to Jason. It looks like some really interesting data so far, and I'm sure you'll hear a lot more about it.