The elevator is hoisted over the side of the ship

Equipment being secured to the elevator

The steel plates are attached to the elevator

Sunny skies and light winds blessed the RV Revelle for a second day as Jason continued to work on the seafloor at the Rainbow hydrothermal field. The primary scientific objective today was to generate a map of the area around the hot springs and begin deploying instruments. The highlight of the day came after dinner, when an “elevator” with additional instrumentation was sent down to the seafloor.

The elevator is really a metal platform with steel plates attached to the bottom and floats attached to the top. Scientific instruments are secured to the platform. The purpose of the elevator is to send more instruments down to the seafloor for Jason to pick up and continue working. Without the elevator, Jason would have to return to the ship, be loaded with more instruments, and launched again, which involves much more time and effort than just sending the elevator down.

However, there is a certain degree of risk involved. The elevator is deployed with a cable and crane which raises it over the side of the ship and gently places it in the water. The cable is then released and the elevator, along with some very expensive instrumentation, slowly sinks to the seafloor. There is no tether connecting the elevator to the ship, so shifting currents could move the elevator in different directions during the slow, 1 hour descent. The other risk is the “landing” site. It is unlikely, but not impossible, that the elevator could land on active hot springs, which could damage the instruments.

Fortunately, the elevator does have a “homing” device attached to it that allows Jason to find it on the seafloor. After the instruments are deployed, Jason will return them to the elevator. An acoustic signal then releases the steel plates, and the elevator slowly floats back up to the surface.

Stay tuned for more updates to see how this worked out for us!

The end of another day at sea

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