http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:31:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/12/27/holidays-on-the-high-seas/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/12/27/holidays-on-the-high-seas/#comments Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:35:00 +0000 Jim Gaherty http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=21414 With round-the-clock shifts, there are precious opportunities for Santa to slip onto a research ship unseen. But slip in he did, leaving treats and gifts around the R.V. Langseth to brighten our day.]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/12/27/holidays-on-the-high-seas/feed/ 1 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/12/27/retrieving-instruments-from-the-deep/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/12/27/retrieving-instruments-from-the-deep/#comments Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:39:07 +0000 Jim Gaherty http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=21389 Over the first 22 days aboard the R/V Marcus G. Langseth, we’ve zigged and zagged our way over a 360×240 mile region of the Pacific plate, first dropping instruments to the seafloor, and then shooting airguns to them (see previous posts). The final step is to recover a subset of the instruments:  34 ocean-bottom seismometers [...]]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/12/27/retrieving-instruments-from-the-deep/feed/ 0 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/12/21/the-art-of-sound-in-the-ocean/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/12/21/the-art-of-sound-in-the-ocean/#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:38:40 +0000 Jim Gaherty http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=21345 The NoMelt experiment aims to image the structure of an oceanic plate, including its deepest reaches up to 70 km beneath the seafloor.  One of our primary means to do so is to create sound (acoustic) waves in the ocean from the ship, and record those waves at receivers on the seafloor, after they have [...]]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/12/21/the-art-of-sound-in-the-ocean/feed/ 0 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/12/13/deploying-instruments-on-the-seafloor-in-the-deep-ocean/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/12/13/deploying-instruments-on-the-seafloor-in-the-deep-ocean/#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:22:53 +0000 Jim Gaherty http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=21003 Oceanic plates are born at mid-ocean ridges, where hot mantle rocks are brought very close to the surface, partially melt, and then cool and crystallize. The newly formed rocks move outwards from the mid-ocean ridge, making way for the next batch of hot rock rising from below. Inch by inch, over millions of years, oceanic [...]]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/12/13/deploying-instruments-on-the-seafloor-in-the-deep-ocean/feed/ 2 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/12/05/rolling-into-open-water-in-the-central-pacific/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/12/05/rolling-into-open-water-in-the-central-pacific/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:48:22 +0000 Jim Gaherty http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=20601 We nicknamed our project NoMelt because we seek to characterize a mature, pristine oceanic plate far from its volcanic origin at a Mid-Ocean Ridge, and away from areas of pronounced volcanism and melting that subsequently alter the structure of the plate.  Our site in the central Pacific fits these scientific needs. However, one downside is [...]]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/12/05/rolling-into-open-water-in-the-central-pacific/feed/ 0 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/11/30/probing-an-oceanic-plate/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/11/30/probing-an-oceanic-plate/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:36:49 +0000 Jim Gaherty http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=20289 Everything that we understand about the rhythms of the Earth’s surface – the slow growth of mountain chains, the creeping expansion of the ocean basins, the abrupt upheaval of a major earthquake, the explosive eruption of a volcano – is viewed through the context of plate tectonics.  This simple yet highly successful model for describing [...]]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/11/30/probing-an-oceanic-plate/feed/ 4