WELCOME TO THE EXPEDITION!

WE ARE A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS SET OUT TO IMAGE THE 3D INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF AXIAL VOLCANO IN THE NE PACIFIC OCEAN.

Please follow our updates and social media, get to know our scientists, and learn about this fascinating deep-sea volcanic system!

Thanks for joining us, the Axial3D Team!

Friday, July 26, 2019

It isn't always plain sailing....

As in all areas of science, sometimes things can go awry, and delays can occur... but everyone can remain in high spirits!


By Sam Mitchell

Our technicians prepare for a busy couple of days on deck!
So yesterday we hit a little snag, but we're now up and running again! A 3D acoustic streamer array is complex... and deploying and retrieving it can take some time. But at the end day, everything relies on the ship. If we're not in "ship shape", well... we can't run. So when there was a need to reboot the ship's power, it was all hands on deck to bring in all of the streamers and the airguns.



But why did we have to bring in ALL 24 km of cable, 84 "birds", 21 acoustic receivers and an air gun array?! All the four streamers are towed in parallel lines behind the vessel. Keeping the streamers from crossing over relies on tension from the ship constantly moving forward. With a power reboot needed to occur, we had to bring all of the streamer array back onto the boat before we could even start tackling the issue on board.


Thankfully, it was a quick fix once everything was back on board. Although, at 2am in the dead of night (when our reboot occurred), our night shift noticed the eerie silence of constant whirring, "chirps", flashing lights and background noise that normally accompanies just any other moment on the ship. With us down to just temporarily drifting, even lack of regular movement of the ship seemed alien to us.

Nevertheless, with the power sorted and back up to full, we were ready to go again. BUT WAIT?! Oh... that's right.... we just brought in all of our equipment. So, once again, it was all hands on deck to help us deploy the entire 24 km array of streamers and airguns. Not to mention reassembling and reattaching all of the birds and receivers that had come off of the streamers just 12 hours before!

I think it's far to say our science party are well-versed in the logistics of deploying a seismic array now, as we helped to deploy it all in the first place. We should be all ready to go when it's time to bring in the array at the end of the expedition!

On top of things running smoothly, everyone was in a good mood considering the delay, and we were lucky enough to have calm seas, beautiful weather, and a nice moody sunset.

Every cloud has a silver(/red/orange/yellow/blue) lining I guess....



Meet the Science Party! Dr. Alistair Harding

Alistair is one of our Co-PIs for the expedition and has worked on Axial for a number of years!

WHERE ARE YOU BASED?
I am a research geophysicist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which is a part of the University of California, San Diego. 

WHAT IS YOUR AREA OF RESEARCH?
I specialize in marine seismology, studying the mid-ocean ridges and the structure of the oceanic crust has been a part of my research since arriving at Scripps after my PhD in 1985. I took part in an earlier 2D seismic survey of this area in 2002, so this experiment is a chance to study the magma system we found then in much greater detail, and to perhaps discover what has changed after the intervening pair of eruptions. 

WHAT IS A FIRST TIME FOR YOU ON THIS EXPEDITION?
Even though I have been to sea many times, this is my first sailing on the R/V Marcus G. Langseth and the first time doing a multiple streamer experiment on this scale. 

WHAT ARE YOU EXCITED TO LEARN/DISCOVER?
Adrien and I have worked together on Axial seamount for some time and it will be exciting to find out how we did with our previous interpretations of the magma chamber. 

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR FIELD?
When I first heard about exploration seismology as a mathematics undergraduate, I thought "how can that possibly work and give anything useful?", so it became instantly interesting. I'm still amazed how much you can learn from a combination of careful measurement, mathematics, and insight. 

TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF!
I am a runner and orienteer and, when younger, used to feel my fitness seep away with each day on board ship. Now I still try to exercise on board, but the fitness loss is barely noticeable. I am big podcast listener. The internet at sea is too slow to download new episodes, but I stocked up before sailing and am hoping to eke them out of the trip.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Meet the Science Party! Shelby Brandt


Hi everyone, I'm Shelby and I am currently a Bachelors student at the University of Regina in Canada

WHAT IS YOUR AREA OF RESEARCH?
My area of research prior to this summer was primarily structural geology. In June, I started marine research for the University of Ottawa focusing on the Eissen spreading centre and other areas were subduction intersects back arc spreading with a large focus on bonninite production.

WHAT IS A FIRST TIME FOR YOU ON THIS EXPEDITION?
This is my first time on an at-sea expedition!

WHAT ARE YOU EXCITED TO LEARN/DISCOVER?
I am most excited to experience life at sea, to learn how field work is conducted in the ocean and I also hope to see some wildlife.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT MARINE SCIENCE?
I love geosciences because it’s such a young field; I love that there is so much unknown and that I get to play a role in answering those questions.

TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF
I am a dual-sport athlete; I play curling and softball for my university.  



Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Meet the Science Party! Dr. Adrien Arnulf

Let's meet our on-board chief scientist!


Dr. Adrien ARNULF:

WHAT IS YOUR AREA OF RESEARCH:
I am a research associate working at the Institute for Geophysics, at the University of Texas at Austin with expertise and research interests spanning the fields of marine geophysics, Earth sciences, signal processing, data inversion and high-performance computing. My research try to address geoscientific problems with the acquisition of new seismic surveys and/or reprocessing of existing surveys, such as: the internal workings of volcanoes, earthquake hazards from megathrust faults which lie offshore, or the stability of continental margins where methane ice can break down with increasing ocean temperatures.

WHAT IS A FIRST TIME FOR YOU ON THIS EXPEDITION:
To date, I have already been part of four sea-going expeditions. My first expedition (BBMOMAR2) was onboard the Ifremer R/V Le SuroƮt and the main focus was to deploy/recover Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBSs) from the summit of the Lucky Strike volcano on the Mid Atlantic ridge. The two following expeditions were onboard the R/V Marcus Langseth. In January/February 2017, I was a shipboard scientist on the CEVICHE expedition in central Chile, where we collected over 4,500 km of long-offset seismic lines across the rupture zones of two of the largest instrumentally-recorded megathrust earthquakes: the 1960, Mw 9.5 Valdivia event and the 2010, Mw 8.8, Maule event. Then, in November/December 2017, I took part of the SHIRE expedition in New Zealand, this time as a co-chief scientist, with the intent to study the variability of fault slip behaviors along the Hikurangi subduction fault. As for the AXIAL3D survey it is my first expedition as a chief scientist and my first three-dimensional seismic experiment. I am accompanied by Alistair and Steffen, two senior scientists with a lot of field experience, the experimented technical and marine crew from the M. Langseth and a very talented squad of students from all over the world.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED TO LEARN/DISCOVER:
Alistair, Graham and myself have been studying Axial Seamount for quite some time now and we are excited to see how the more complete data coverage offered by 3-D seismic data can improve our understanding of magmatic, tectonic and hydrothermal processes occurring within this large seafloor volcano. The presence of the OOI seafloor observatory on top of Axial Seamount has also attracted a wide range of scientists interested in Volcanology and I am looking forward to discuss our latest findings with them and to benefit from their inputs.

WHY DO YOU LOVE YOUR FIELD:
Marine geophysics is a wonderful field at the frontier of physics, mathematics, Earth and computer sciences. It involves a field or sea-going component, where one can travel to some of the most remote places of our planet, and also offers numerous technological challenges; from data acquisition 100s of miles offshore to the optimization of algorithms on some of the most powerful supercomputers.

TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF:
As many of my colleagues onboard, I like to keep myself fit and active. I enjoy rowing, cycling, running, skiing, climbing and will enjoy a pit-stop at local coffee shops, restaurants and pubs from time to time.

Monday, July 22, 2019

Free time on the high seas?!


A research cruise isn’t just spending 24/7 collecting, monitoring, and processing data... 

By Michelle Lee

Because of our rotating shifts, everyone also can enjoy some leisure and down time. Besides research, what is there even to do on a research vessel in the middle of the ocean?



One of the main leisure time activities that seems popular amongst everyone is reading. Many of us brought books with us onto the vessel to read during down time but on board there is also a library stocked with books ranging from seismic textbooks to the entirety of the Twilight series (I haven’t seen these since middle school, a good 10 years ago!) If you don’t want to physically flip the pages of a book, you can also opt to listen to an audiobook. Located right next to the library is the theater room. Amongst one of the hard drives in the room is a folder containing all the audiobooks you could possibly think of! Just head into the theater room with a USB, plug it in, and you can download the audiobook you want.


While talking about the theater room, we can’t leave out movie time! Within the theater are multiple hard drives containing hundreds of movies (and music!!!). Any movie you can think of is likely located within one of those hard drives from documentaries about the Great Barrier Reef to the latest Avengers movies. You can choose to enjoy a movie in the theater set up with rows of seats and a large TV screen or to download the movie of your choice to view on your laptop in the comfort of your room.


If you don’t find us during our leisure time reading or watching a movie, you might be able to find one of us on the top deck of the ship, in the gym. Equipped with various machines and equipment such as a treadmill, elliptical, yoga mat, and weights, you might see us exercising off the extra calories we consumed by taking the last slice of cheesecake drizzled with chocolate or the extra scoop of ice cream on top of the freshly baked pies.

The board games can get real serious!

We can’t talk about leisure time without games, from board games to card games, with two people or the whole science team. Occasionally you will find us gathered around the long table at the corner of the main lab playing Ticket to Ride, Codenames, or some card games. We’ve also gotten into a new game introduced to us by Victoire called the Werewolf game (she handmade all the cards for the game herself, so that we can play! Thanks Victoire!). This game, a very similar game to Mafia, got the whole science team turning our backs against one another when it comes time to vote for who we believe were the werewolves killing off the innocent villagers at night. 

Axelle and Tanner get in some practice before 'The Big Game'

Of course, we can’t go on without mentioning the ping pong tournament that is about to start! With the pongvision set up in the main lab to watch the game, we are about to start the journey to find the best ping pong player aboard the Langseth!

Ship gear gives you attitude... and balloons. Tanner, Morgane and Michelle show us how it's done...
With Sam and his camera, you might also find us in the midst of doing photoshoots with our newest Langseth gear amongst the monitors or leftover balloons from Morgane’s 21st extravaganza in the main lab. You can also locate us in the mess munching away at the snacks available at any hour of the day or just up and about the vessel intaking the views from outside (on a nice day of course) or chatting with others about whatever comes to mind.


At the end of the day, after listing all these fun leisure activities to do during down time, we can’t leave off the most important activity of all, nap time. Sometimes all we really need after hours of standing watch or processing data is some quiet time in our bunks beneath the comfort of our blankets dreaming about ourselves guessing the correct number of eggs on board the ship or the number of shots we complete within a 24-hour window and ultimately winning the surprise prize for most points earned with the “question of the day”. 

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Meet the Science Party! Michelle Lee


Hi everyone, I'm Michelle a current PhD student at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory / Columbia University in Marine Geology and Geophysics advised by Dr. Suzanne Carbotte and Dr. Maya Tolstoy.

WHAT IS YOUR AREA OF RESEARCH?
My area of research is Marine Seismology. My current research focuses on using multichannel seismic data to image and characterize melt lenses beneath the rift zones of Axial Seamount.

WHAT IS A FIRST TIME FOR YOU ON THIS EXPEDITION?
Even though I work with multichannel seismic data, I have never collected the data on a cruise! So this will be a first time for me! This will also be the first time I’m spending more than 20 days on a cruise.

WHAT ARE YOU EXCITED TO LEARN/DISCOVER?
I am most excited to learn about how to collect MCS data and to be able to see it being done on board. I am also excited to learn more about Axial.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT MARINE SCIENCE?
I got into Marine Geophysics as an undergraduate at the University of Washington when I started working in a Marine Geophysics lab looking at methane plumes on the seafloor. I really enjoy learning about the seafloor because it encompasses so many unique and fascinating aspects yet most people don’t even know it exists.

TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF
A fun fact about myself is that I can speak 4 languages. I can speak three dialects of Chinese fluently and can speak Japanese and Korean to some degree. Another thing about myself is that I love to swim and have been a swimmer since I was 3 yrs old, joining a swim team when I was around 10 years old. My main strokes are freestyle and butterfly.