Journals 2006/2007

Miriam Sutton
Newport Middle School, Newport, NC

"Study of the seafloor and shallow subseafloor off the Labrador Shelf and Slope" Canadian Coast Guard Ship Hudson (CCGS Hudson) August 5 - September 1, 2006

Journal Index: August 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12          13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19          20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26          27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 September 1 Additional Resources

August 8, 2006
It Takes a Team to Core the Seafloor

AM Location: Orphan Basin (54° 15' 57.73" N, 51° 48' 07.49" W)
PM Location: Hamilton Spur (54° 54' 07.34" N, 52° 01' 37.43" W)
Sea Temperature: 8.3° C
Air Temperature: 9.1° C
Wind Speed/Direction: 30 knots/SW changing to 10 knots/E by evening
Hydrospheric Conditions: Seas remain confused and angry looking until late afternoon when a wind shift began and the seas began to calm.
Atmospheric Conditions: Cloudy skies early with sun appearing before mid-day. Fog began to compete with the sun for sky time and the sun won the battle by the end of the day.

We continued our seismic data collection at Orphan Basin until 10:00AM. The gear was pulled aboard and the ship began steaming toward a section of the Labrador Sea known as Hamilton Spur. The scientists collected another core sample at 2000 meters. The total core length is 50 feet in length. (See Core Sample photo below.)

Core Sample brought to the Surface (Photo: Miriam Sutton)

The section of the Labrador Slope known as Hamilton Spur has a history of rapid changes in sedimentation and this core sample will allow the scientists to assess any recent changes in sedimentation. The core is raised along side the ship and secured in place by the crew. (See Securing Core Sample photo below.)

Don Johnson secures the core to the ship (Photo: Miriam Sutton)

It is truly a team effort between the scientists and crew to collect this type of data. Watching them work as a cohesive unit throughout the day was amazing. Everyone on board tunes in for the core deployment and collection procedures for a core sample. I even caught the ships' officers enjoying the hands-on science. (See CCGS Officer photo below.)

CCGS Officer Luke Razauskas observes core retrieval (Photo: Miriam Sutton)

Today's activity: (Ask mom to bake a cake for this activity. The cake will make a nice medium for this activity and it will be fun to eat during your discussion.) Once the cake has cooled, push a straw down through the every layer of the cake and then carefully remove the core sample you collected. Use the blunt end of a skewer stick (or similar tool) to push the cake core out of the straw. Record your observations and note any differences between your data collection and that of the scientists completing a coring on the seafloor. Discuss your observations over cake and milk. YUM!

Word of the Day: Cohesive

REMINDER: Record today's Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and the Air Temperature on the data table you created from the August 05 journal entry.