Olga’s question
Will you comment on this survey? It were interesting. And what’s about the Grigoriy Mikheev. Is it a Russian vessel?
Carol Cotterill’s response
Dear Olga,
Firstly I’m so glad you’re reading the blogs on the Cape Farewell website! So in answer to your questions – yes the Grigory Mikheev is a Russian ship. She used to be a Russian research vessel and has now been converted to accommodate tourists. The crew are Russian, and the staff looking after us onboard are multi-national – Russian, English, Austrian and Belgian.
The survey is very interesting on this expedition. We are using sound to investigate beneath the seabed. We create a bubble in the water, which when it collapses releases a sound wave. We use marine microphones called hydrophones to listen to the sound being reflected back from the seabed initially, and then each sediment boundary beneath the seabed in turn. We are managing to “see” up to 400m beneath the seabed in places which is incredible for us!
I need to spend some time interpreting the profiles – like 2D slices through the seabed – but we have seen channels gouged out by old ice flows that have now been infilled with 100’s meters of sediments. There are lots of interesting features being revealed. However, the nature of science is that we need to go back and place our data into the big mix of existing data from this area in order to understand the detailed picture of what is happening and has happened in the past!
If you, or anyone else has any other questions, please send them in and I will try to answer them as soon as I can.
Have a look at the previous QA.
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4 Comments
Birdie
How much seamount or vent volcanic activity is there and could any of that be affecting things? Could there be magma below any of the glaciers? How does Greenland compare to Iceland in these regards and I assume you can detect balsalt rock compared to bedrock, plain sediment, etc and are looking for that? Love the blogs! Keep um coming!! Birdie
Olga
Dear Carol,
I thank you for such informative message and I am glad that you found time for the answer.
The Disko Bay 2008 expedition is a really interesting project. And it is an admirable idea to let us follow this journey, read daily updated blogs and post our comments. It is curious to know what is happened to members of the expedition these days and to have their opinions on that. All events are very eloquently described and perfectly illustrated. As already said by others your journey looks amazing. Besides, this project is very useful ‘cos it gives a chance to have new various knowledges.
Thank you once more, Carol, for the explanation of a method being used for this marine geophysical investigation. I am understanding that the work will be continued after the completion of this expedition and I wish you to obtain all necessary data and, maybe, to discover even more ‘interesting features’ which can help to create new scientific knowledges.
Good luck in the further researches.
Thanks everyone.
My respect
Maryclare Foa
Are seeing the seabed with sound.. using sound to see with -is that right ?
On your read out / screens is there an image of the sound waves spreading through the water?
I’m doing a PhD at Camberwell (University of the arts), drawing with sound in response to the outside environment, so I’m very interested in the fact that you are bubbling sound to see with ……why does it have to be a bubble ? if you just directed sound would it not travel down? Or is it that you couldn’t count on it to travel in a straight line / you couldn’t track it ?
Sorry for al the questions….
20 years ago I sailed from Spitzburgen into the ice (part of an expedition that had gone round the world) – so all the pictures of your ship and the ice .. and the film of you introducing your work and equipment as you walked along the deck slightly tipping to one side …are bringing back some wonderful memories thank you..
Birdie
Carol
I would imagine that some of the other records you will be using will be from gas/oil surveys that others have done? I would also assume more of those are expected to occur, as there seems to be a deal of excitement – in some quarters – that with all the ice melt, more exploration for oil/gas can now occur.