Great question! Radon is a gas- and it can leave the sediment and go into the water above the mud, so we expect there to be less radon in the top layers of the sediment because it is escaping into the water. As you get deeper into a sediment core, the radon gas has a harder...{read more}
Well- this depends on what type of temperature you are talking about. The temperature of the air has gotten down to -17 degrees Celsius, without wind chill (which can make it feel even colder), on our cruise. That's pretty cold!! This makes doing science difficult, especially...{read more}
Well, the cores haven't been very good at some stations for a few reasons, but we can't always pinpoint the exact reason. When there are a lot of waves and wind, it causes the ship to drift really quickly, and this can end up dragging the multicorer across the bottom, which...{read more}
Well, samples from the multicorer vary, depending on how deep the water is. In a shallow station, say 70-140 meters (200-400 feet deep) it takes about 20-30 minutes round trip for the multicorer to go down and back. We get up to 8 samples from it at once, and we send the...{read more}
Wow- what a great question. I believe that people should definitely be concerned about the health of the Bering Sea ecosystem- I know that we all are, which is why we are up here right now studying everything we can about it. Scientific data shows us that the ecosystem is...{read more}
To answer your question- a lot of chemistry in the sediment is affected by oxygen. I am interested in iron, and iron can have two forms in the sediment- iron OXIDES which have oxygen attached to the iron molecule, and reduced iron which has no oxygen. This reduced iron would really like to...{read more}
Well, to answer your question, the cores with murky water over them are bad because this means that they were disturbed somehow on their trip to the surface. All the sediment that makes up the top layer got shaken up and suspended in the water above the rest of the mud-...{read more}
Our team tries to get 16 core samples every other day- but sometimes we get less than that, if the mud isn't very good or the seas are rough. It takes us around 4-6 hours to sort out all these samples, and then several days afterwards to process all the mud! It's a big process, so...{read more}
I am having a great time on board- although I am looking forward to getting off the ship and back home! To answer your question- an interesting thing about the Bering Sea is that there are no glaciers, because the ice is seasonal, so it only lasts for a few months every year-...{read more}
It is definitely a challenge being on a ship for a long period of time- and ship life is definitely not for everyone. Luckily the Healy is not a small ship- she is 420 feet long, which gives us a lot of room to spread out. Honestly, everyone on board is very courteous to each...{read more}
Hi Colin!
Great question! Radon is a gas- and it can leave the sediment and go into the water above the mud, so we expect there to be less radon in the top layers of the sediment because it is escaping into the water. As you get deeper into a sediment core, the radon gas has a harder...{read more}
Hi Ryan-
Well- this depends on what type of temperature you are talking about. The temperature of the air has gotten down to -17 degrees Celsius, without wind chill (which can make it feel even colder), on our cruise. That's pretty cold!! This makes doing science difficult, especially...{read more}
Hi Aaron-
Well, the cores haven't been very good at some stations for a few reasons, but we can't always pinpoint the exact reason. When there are a lot of waves and wind, it causes the ship to drift really quickly, and this can end up dragging the multicorer across the bottom, which...{read more}
Hi Trevor!
Well, samples from the multicorer vary, depending on how deep the water is. In a shallow station, say 70-140 meters (200-400 feet deep) it takes about 20-30 minutes round trip for the multicorer to go down and back. We get up to 8 samples from it at once, and we send the...{read more}
Hi Ethan-
Wow- what a great question. I believe that people should definitely be concerned about the health of the Bering Sea ecosystem- I know that we all are, which is why we are up here right now studying everything we can about it. Scientific data shows us that the ecosystem is...{read more}
To answer your question- a lot of chemistry in the sediment is affected by oxygen. I am interested in iron, and iron can have two forms in the sediment- iron OXIDES which have oxygen attached to the iron molecule, and reduced iron which has no oxygen. This reduced iron would really like to...{read more}
Hi Jaspreet-
Well, to answer your question, the cores with murky water over them are bad because this means that they were disturbed somehow on their trip to the surface. All the sediment that makes up the top layer got shaken up and suspended in the water above the rest of the mud-...{read more}
Ana-
Our team tries to get 16 core samples every other day- but sometimes we get less than that, if the mud isn't very good or the seas are rough. It takes us around 4-6 hours to sort out all these samples, and then several days afterwards to process all the mud! It's a big process, so...{read more}
Hi Mike!
I am having a great time on board- although I am looking forward to getting off the ship and back home! To answer your question- an interesting thing about the Bering Sea is that there are no glaciers, because the ice is seasonal, so it only lasts for a few months every year-...{read more}
Hi Ben!
It is definitely a challenge being on a ship for a long period of time- and ship life is definitely not for everyone. Luckily the Healy is not a small ship- she is 420 feet long, which gives us a lot of room to spread out. Honestly, everyone on board is very courteous to each...{read more}