One of the most significant challenges faced when working at areas with active fluid venting is to quantify the fluid flux rate from the deep reservoirs to the overlying water column.  A primary objective of this project is to link microbial community composition and activity to differences in fluid chemistry and fluid flux, so we have to quantify the fluid flux and evaluate whether, and if so how, the flux changes over time. To the eye, fluid fluxes at these sites appear high:  this image shows the strong (yellow) sonar reflection of gas bubbles being released along a fault line at the GB425 mud volcano. The wall of bubbles was about 50 meters long and about 3 meters wide (see image gallery below to view the bubble wall).

Every cruise on board the R/V Atlantis with the DSV ALVIN has one thing in common – amazing discoveries and fun initiation rituals. Each day begins around 6:30, with final checks of the sub and ultimately loading the science observers of the day into the ALVIN (Melitza Crespo is shown below).  We have several scientists who’ve never been in ALVIN before and for them there is a special treat upon returning to the surface, you can look forward to a bath in lots of 4ºC water.  Brrrr.  There’s even a special throne where one sits while receiving this special treat (shown here is Dr. Kirsten Habicht’s initiation from two days ago).

On November 8th, we sailed from Galveston Texas on board the R/V Atlantis which carried the Deep Submergence Vessel (DSV) ALVIN, t he ALVIN crew, the Ship’s crew, and 21 researchers from across the globe. This collaborative project involves scientists from the University of Georgia, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Florida State University, Harvard University, the University of Bremen (Germany), the University of Southern Denmark, and the University of Minnesota.

Sometimes, I get a feeling that the day is going to offer some surprises.  This morning, I had a feeling. We’ve spent a lot of time in the Southwest quadrant over the past two weeks searching for oil and gas.  We’ve seen mostly weak signals.  The sediments at the sites we visited during that time were oxidized and did not contain a lot of gas or oil.

This time of year, the Gulf of Mexico experiences frequent and sometimes severe storms.  Over the past few days, the wind has been blowing 20 knots steadily, with gusts up to 30 knots.  The seas are up and we’ve been bounced around a lot.