Page 13: of Marine Technology Magazine (April 2006)
The Offshore Technology Edition
Read this page in Pdf, Flash or Html5 edition of April 2006 Marine Technology Magazine
12
14
the Watch, who marked the location of the OBS using the shipboard GPS charting program on the bridge. The depth of the ocean bottom ranges between 85 - 165 ft. around the island. "It was freezing cold out," said Loreaux. "Dr. ten Brink told me about launching these instruments in the
Caribbean. I don't think they were expecting these temper- atures and wind."
As they team circled the island and deployed the addi- tional seismometers the weather moved in, it became cold- er and the waves grew. "The wind really started to kick up while we were launch- ing the third one," said Loreaux.
It took about four and a half hours to deploy and mark the location of all five instruments. The crew finished up around 5 p.m. and began the trip back to Homer. They were in for quite a ride. The 110-ft. patrol boat bucked in the 12 - 15 ft. waves. The weather prolonged the trip, four and a half hours, getting them back to shore at about 9:30 p.m. "They got an interesting ride back on a Coast Guard cut- ter," said Loreaux. "I was on watch on the bridge for the ride back. Trying to hold onto your seat, plot a course and keep the chart on the table through waves like that is diffi- cult."
The expedition was successful. All five instruments were deployed and there were no injuries. In six weeks the scien- tists will return to recover each $35,000 OBS from the ocean floor. The scientists hope to use a Coast Guard buoy tender as the recovery platform. The buoy tenders are designed to be able to keep station even in rough seas, bet- ter allowing them to recover the OBS from the bottom.
The USGS has an agreement with the national OBS facil- ity at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to build and maintain 16 OBS within the facility. Five of these OBS and a modest amount of funding are available for USGS and non-USGS investigators to be rapidly deployed in response to an earthquake or volcanic activity in coastal areas. The operation off Augustine Island is the first rapid response to natural disasters in U.S. territorial waters.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), a joint program of the USGS, the AVO Geophysical Institute of the
University of Alaska, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys are presently involved in moni- toring Aleutian arc volcanoes and providing warnings to local communities and affected industries.
By Petty Officer Sara Francis / H W - " , G H Q W Lþ F D W L R Q 6 R Q D U V K R Z \ R X W K H Z D \ R X W 7 K H ' , ' 6 2 1 , G H Q W Lþ F D W L R Q 6 R Q D U L V D U H Y R O X W L R Q D U \ K L J K G Hþ Q L W L R Q V R Q D U W K D W S U R Y L G H V Q H D U S K R W R T X D O L W \ L P D J H V L Q G D U N R U W X U E L G Z D W H U Z K H U H W U D G L W L R Q D O L P D J L Q J V \ V W H P V I D L O 7 R V H H Y L G H R L P D J H V D Q G O H D U Q P R U H D E R X W W K L V H [ F L W L Q J W H F K Q R O R J \ D G Y D Q F H P H Q W Y L V L W Z Z Z V R X Q G P H W U L F V F R P ) R U S U R G X F W L Q I R U P D W L R Q F R Q W D F W 2 F H D Q 0 D U L Q H , Q G X V W U L H V 7 H O ( P D L O L Q I R # R F H D Q P D U L Q H L Q F F R P
Visit www.maritimeequipment.com/mt & Click No. 207
MTR#3 (1-16).qxd 4/10/2006 9:57 AM Page 15
