Dive and Discover : Exp. 8 : Juan de Fuca Ridge : Mail Buoy

Juan de Fuca Ridge
Expedition 8:
May 24-Jun 10, 2004

Mail Buoy
June 2, 2004

Hi I'm Franz Sauer, an eighth grader from Manalapan, New Jersey. I am doing my history day project on the history of the Alvin and would like to find out if there is actually a sign PB4UGO on the DSV Alvin and where is it located? Do you have a picture of it? I included this fact in my project and my fellow students do not believe me.

Best Regards,
Franz Sauer



	A reminder for those diving in the research submersible Alvin…

Franz,
There is a license plate-type sign that has PB4UGO on it. On the vessel Atlantis II, it hung on the wall of the main lab. Now, on Atlantis, the sign hangs over the silverware dispensers in the galley. So the sign exists, but it has never been attached to Alvin. You win, you lose.

George A. Meier
Electrical technician, Alvin group

As an oceanography student attending Umpqua Community College, I have been tracking your daily progress and was wondering when you might let us know about some of the interesting new things you have found on the expedition. Have you discovered any previously unidentified organisms? Has there been anything found that was unexpected?
Thanks,
Joy

Well Joy, every aspect of being out here is interesting, even if it's just seeing how some of the sites have changed since we last saw them. One of the fluid samplers that was deployed a year ago had an intake hose completely clogged by tubeworms that had moved into the area. Some locations seem to have all but died out while others are becoming hotter and more vigorous than they have beenin recent years.
I am one of three microbiologists on board and we are trying to culture new high temperature organisms from both the hydrothermal fluids and the sulfide chimneys, but unfortunately, we won't really know if we have found anything new until we get back on land. Back in the lab we can sequence their DNA and study their physiology and metabolisms to see if we have isolated any new organisms. We are testing a couple new types of growth media on this cruise so we certainly hope we will come back with some new and interesting organisms.

Sheryl Bolton
Microbiologist, University of Washington

We are 4th graders in Royal Palm Elementary School in Lauderhill, Florida.
We are in Mrs. Glickson's speech class. We want to know how you carry enough oxygen for the pilot and scientists to breathe all the hours that ALVIN is submerged in the water. We enjoy the pictures at the website and we want to see more before we leave for summer vacation. Thank you very much.
Audrey Glickson
Royal Palm Elementary School

To Mrs. Glickson's speech class,
Alvin carries three scuba-tank sized bottles of oxygen on each dive. Each
bottle has 2250 PSI (pounds per square inch) of oxygen in it. During a dive, the atmosphere in Alvin is monitored for an oxygen content of 21%.

When this level drops below 17%, additional oxygen is added from the first bottle until 21% is again reached. An alarm helps the pilot to remember to do this. In an emergency, there is enough oxygen in the three bottles to last the three divers for 72 hours.

George Meier
Electrical Technician, Alvin group

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