Earth Science Collection

Vignettes from Dutch Harbor, Alaska in preparation for my 2010 PolarTREC Cruise on the USCG Cutter Healy.

Video created by PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker onboard the International Continental Shelf Survey. This was the first piston core that returned a gas hydrate sample in the core cutter. The hydrate was about 20 feet beneath the sea floor. Once on deck it began fizzing with escaping methane. Gas hydrates turn out to be very widespread throughout the world's oceans

Bill Schmoker with the International Continental Shelf Survey expedition.

Boat opps aboard the USCGC Healy during the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey, filmed by PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker. Here we see the launch and deployment of the Arctic Service Boat.

Breaking heavy ice in the Canada Basin (northern Arctic Ocean) aboard the USCGC Healy during the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey. In the distance notice the Canadian Coast Guard Cutter Louis S. St. Laurent. Filmed by PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker.

Deploying an ice buoy from the USCGC Healy in the Beaufort Sea. The buoy drifts with the ice pack and relays its position to a satellite and so can be used to monitor ice movement. Filmed by PolarTREC Teacher Bill Schmoker on the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey.

Conducting a CTD cast aboard the USCGC Healy. Launched from the starboard A-frame, this device measures Conductivity (to determine salinity), Temperature, & Depth and returns water samples from user-selected depths via the array ("rosette") of trippable Niskin bottles. Filmed by PolarTREC Teacher Bill Schmoker on the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey.

Readying the 12-bottle CTD for a cast aboard the USCGC Healy on the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey. Here the USGS/University of South Florida Arctic Ocean Acidification Study team have replaced one Niskin Bottle with a prototype autonomous high precision spectrophotometric pH meter that continuously records pH values on the trip up & down- note data downloading upon its

2010 PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker arriving in Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island, AK to begin his International Extended Continental Shelf Survey expedition aboard the USCGC Healy.

USCGC Healy experiencing the first ice of 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey in the Bering Sea. Filmed by PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker.

Launch & recovery of the RHI (rigid-hull inflatable) boat aboard the USCGC Healy in foggy conditions. Filmed in the Canada Basin (northern Arctic Ocean) during the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey by PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker.

Gas (methane) Hydrate ice recovered in core catcher during bottom sampling opps aboard USCGC Healy in the Southern Beaufort Sea during the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey. Filmed by PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker.

Conducting gravity coring operations aboard the USCGC Healy in the Southern Beaufort Sea during the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey. This is a simple way to retrieve soft sediment cores- the coring pipe is driven into the sea bed by the 2-ton weight at the top of the coring device. Filmed by PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker

Black-legged Kittiwakes are joined by an immature Herring Gull (maybe Vega Gull??) in the Canada Basin (northern Arctic Ocean). Filmed aboard the USCGC Healy on the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey by PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker.

USCGC Healy sounding the foghorn during our transit of the Bering Straight on the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey. Filmed by PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker

Helicopter transfer via Canadian Coast Guard MBB Bo 105 from USGCC Healy to Canadian Coast Guard Cutter Louis S. St. Laurent in the Canada Basin (N. Arctic Ocean) during the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey. Filmed by PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker

PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker gives a walking tour of the USCGC Healy in the Canada Basin (N. Arctic Ocean) on the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey.

USCGC Healy breaking ice in the Canada Basin (N. Arctic Ocean.) Filmed from the Canadian Coast Guard Cutter Louis S. St. Laurent by PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker on the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey. Here the Louis is stopped for sonar repairs and the Healy is prepping a clear lane for the eventual resumption of sonar subseafloor profiling.

Helicopter transfer between the Canadian Coast Guard Cutter Louis S. St. Laurent & USCGC Healy in the Beaufort Sea. This is a MBB Bo 105 helicopter, a twin-engine craft with 4 rotor blades. Filmed by PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker on the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey.

USCGC Healy entering the ice pack north of Barrow in the Canada Basin. Note the paint scraped off on one large piece of ice and the Canadian Coast Guard Cutter Louis S. St. Laurent following us into the ice. Filmed by PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker on the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey.

Will fresh water turn into ice when it is dunked in the chilly waters of the Canada Basin? Find out with PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker, aboard the USCGC Healy on the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey.

The Canadian Coast Guard Cutter Louis S. St. Laurent working in the Beaufort Sea, seen from the USCGC Healy on the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey. Note the bubbler system at the bow of the Louis, which enhances its icebreaking capabilities by lifting ice around the bow and wetting the surface of the ice. Filmed by PolarTREC teacher Bill

MBB Bo 105 Helicopter transfer from CCGC Louis S. St. Laurent to USCGC Healy in the Canada Basin (northern Arctic Ocean.) Filmed by PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker on the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey.

Packing up the coring rail aboard the USCGC Healy in the Canada Basin (northern Arctic Ocean) on the 2010 International Extended Continental Shelf Survey. Filmed by PolarTREC teacher Bill Schmoker.