ALVIN resurfaces

ALVIN being lifted onto Atlantis

My Dearest Anais,

Sunset on the Juan de Fuca Ridge

I am happy to hear that you and Maman are well and had such a nice weekend. Maman tells me that you are taking gymnastics and enjoying it. Here our days are all the same and the weekends pass without anyone noticing.

Fixing Jason

We have been working with Jason for the last several days. The work is both interesting and boring. The latter because Jason moves very slowly (the ship and the vehicle the Medea it is attached to called the Medea must move as well), and we seem to spend most of the time moving from one place to another, placing the transponders, testing sensors and the like. During this time there is nothing much to do but to keep an eye on what's going on and to take an occasional note.

Once the tests are done and the beacons placed and working, our explorations start and the difficult hours are quickly forgotten. The ocean floor is dark, and we can only see as far as our light allows. Someone likened this exploration to wandering in the deep woods at night with only a small flash light. Can you imagine in those woods the difficulty of knowing where you are going, where you have been, how big the trees are, and what they look like? The world of the ocean bottom is totally alien.

Imaging the sulfide structures

Traveling through the mirk, the sulfide chimneys first loom as ghosts in the distance, like ruins of a dank medieval castle. As we approach, the shadows gain structure and then more detail, and suddenly we find ourselves up against them. Many are so large we cannot see their tops. The big ones are really enormous. To know their sizes we can only sail up and down their sides with our small craft and measure the water depths at their tops and bottoms, but we cannot see them entirely. The larger structures are 60 to 80 feet tall--more than twice the height of our house.

Sulfide sample from venting structure

Upon closer examination it becomes apparent that some of the chimneys are covered with tube worms. At the distance of a foot or two, the life is rather colorful, but when we move back the color disappears, especially the reds (water absorbs the color red, which means that you cannot see red in the water at distance). Shimmering hot waters rise around the structures, emanating from numerous vents on them. Some of the vents belch black smoke, which in reality is hot water with particles of sulfides. The particles form as the hot subterranean water meets the cold ocean.

Dave Butterfield, NOAA/PMEL in the main laboratory

We have been studying two clusters of sulfide chimneys. One consists of three large structures and the other consists of two large structures. Both are surrounded by many smaller structures.
We have been mapping them from all angles--looking down on them to determine their positions relative to each other and from the sides to determine their exact shapes and appearances. We see them with sonar, black and white photographs, color photographs and color video, and even in stereo (which Maman can describe to you) and eventually this is how you will be able to see them.

So, that is what has occupied us for the last several days. I have only been able to write to you now because we have a day's respite, but now Jason is back in the water, and in a few minutes it is my turn to take the watch again.

Great big kisses,
Papa