Core on board!!!

We have started to look at the first cores retrieved from Hole 1256D ...

We begin with detailed macroscopic descriptions ...

 and later on our "Structure Team" captures all measurements and observations into the DescLogik database.

while waiting for the 1st core on deck, ...

I may as well try to stay in shape right?

Tonight before dinner we had a group of pilot whales passing by ...

Royal Wedding Celebrations on JR

 

Today was a celebration day for the Royal Wedding of Kate and Wills, so we had to wear hats to be part of the high tea reception, lots of fun ...

 Our two co-chief scientists, Benoit Ildefonse (left) and Damon Teagle (right) on the deck of the JR ...

Mark Kurtz, Juergen Koepke, Michelle Harris, and Jessica Till ...

Immersion Suit ...

In case of abandon ship procedure in cold waters, one is supposed to wear an immersion suit ... now how many of you would really like to see me wearing one of these?

Tricones

These are the types of drill bits that we use for coring the ocean floor ... rather hard-core isn't it?

Easter Cake on the deck of Joides Resolution

Easter Sunday lunch was a BBQ served on the deck of Joides Resolution and desert was AWESOME!

A pilgrim falcon on the deck!

Drilling deeper, drilling further ... we hope ...
In the meantime, a bird of prey landed on our ship, majestic and merciless!

Stand-By at 1256D ...

Today was officially our 1st day of training on DeskLogic, the software that we will be using to log cores. Thomas gave us all enough confidence to drive this "sportscar" without a driver's license!!! :->

The scenery around the ship is actually more varied than one would think ... today we saw a bunch of whales in the distance ... these large mammals however occupy only one pixel of this picture!

Today, I wore my South African rugby t-shirt (Springbok). There is no better way to find out who is from South Africa on the ship. I counted three of them and they were all very happy to see the colors of their country!!! Cheers for the Springboks!!!

Drilling the ocean floor ... softly!

 

Our experienced drillers are drilling the ocean floor softly to preserve hole integrity ... tip-toeing their way down the Earth ...

The port-holes in the conference room provide us with a window to the "outside" world.

Expedition 335 - first success

Our Expedition 335 experienced its first success: the re-entry in Hole 1256D (see photo). This is no ordinary technical achievement ... just imagine holding a cooked spaghetti in your mouth and trying to fit it (hands-free) in the mouth of a Coca Cola bottle down below. You get the idea? Now try it with a 10 feet long spaghetti!!!

Otherwise life on board of the JR is calm for now, more training sessions and science seminars and the usual maintenance of the ship (see welder photo).

Joides Resolution - Guided Tour

The Joides Resolution is the ship from which drilling operations will start around April 25 but for now let me show you the mess, the kitchen and a nightscape of the Moon over the Pacific ocean ...

where did land go?

We left Puntarenas at 04h00 while I was sound asleep and now we are surrounded by water ... where did land go?

from Puntarenas, Costa Rica - Saturday 04/16/2011

My new home for the next 6 weeks. My life boat number is #2, just in case ...
We have now refueled, and all drilling mud is loaded. We depart on Sunday 04/17 at 04:00.
Meanwhile, we are in training for safety, lab usage and science experiments ...

Two weeks left ...

Will be leaving from Marion airport on Wednesday April 13 at 08:20 AM, St Louis, MO => Dallas, TX => San Jose, Costa Rica
Then transfer of the science party by bus from San Jose to Puntarenas, Costa Rica on 04/14/2011
Ship departs on 04/16/2011 from Puntarenas.

Ferre - IODP Expedition 335 - Superfast Spreading Rate Crust 4

From 13 April to 3 June 2011, I will be taking part in the IODP Expedition 335 - Superfast Spreading Rate Crust 4 off the coast of Panama.

The ship's name is JOIDES Resolution.
Details on the expedition can be found at:
http://iodp.tamu.edu/scienceops/expeditions/superfast_rate_crust.html