Jason and the Benchmarks

Date: 2011/10/13
Time: 19:03:09 GMT
Latitude: 9 ° 50.5623 N
Longitude: 104 ° 16.371 W

It's been an eventful night, most definitely. Vicki, Julie, and I were up before 3 a.m. and ready for our shift in the control van. Julie pulled the job of event logger, while I was given the amazing opportunity to be the 'video logger' (DVD changer). Vicki, of course, was the science lead for the night, which won her a special chair with hydraulic raising and lowering action, a feature that Julie and I both coveted greatly. We were greeted when we walked in the door by a very upset dumbo octopus on the main screen. After inspecting Jason briefly, he backed away and expanded outward, flashing some bioluminescence in our direction as if to say "This is my space!"

Jason's main task for the night was collecting transponders from some benchmarks across axis and making a precise measurement of the pressure at each benchmark using a mobile pressure recorder (MPR). These pressure measurements are used ultimately to determine whether the benchmarks have moved at all, and therefore, whether the ridge itself is deforming. In addition, between these benchmarks, Jason is moving up to 50m above the ocean floor and collecting multibeam data that can be used to construct an extremely precise (<1 meter resolution) map of the seafloor. We have traveled to about half of the benchmarks at this point, and then it's on to more fun and excitement.