A very big part of this project depends on a piece of equipment called the ADCP (acoustic Doppler current profiler). This is one of the instruments that will help the scientists to find the location and breadth (the “beam”) of the Tasman Sea internal tide. To do that, they need to identify the difference in the speed of the water … Read More
More Q & A
Ms. Pfaff’s 6th grade Earth science class (period 3) asks, “Why are internal waves so important, that you decided to research them?” Internal waves are important from two perspectives. First, they have the ability to distribute ocean energy from lunar tides to various parts of the ocean. Energy (both heat and turbulence) is moved around the ocean by either tides … Read More
Q & A with TTIDE
Standley Middle School, San Diego: Ms. Pfaff’s class asks “Could internal waves reach shore and cause a tsunami?” Great question. Because internal tides are so deep in the water (hundreds to thousands of meters), they do not cause tsunamis. The internal wave is caused by some promontory or mountain on the ocean floor, and this doesn’t generate the same intensity … Read More
Revelle: More Moorings, Sun and Some Fish
We took advantage of a sunny, temperate weather window on Sunday to deploy moorings T1 and T3. We loaded each of the moorings with 36 temperature sensors, which spanned half a kilometer of line, and three CTD’s, instruments that use a band of sensors to measure the water’s conductivity, temperature and density. For each of the moorings we’ve deployed so … Read More
Greetings from the RV Falkor
The second leg of the TTIDE cruises is set to take off from Hobart on the RV Falkor. We have been busily prepping our instruments, eager to get underway. A two-day delay in port, due to an electrical backup system that needs repairing, has given us a good amount of time to prepare for the big seas and big science … Read More
Revelle Progress Update: Storms and An Aborted Mooring Deployment
We’re currently hovering close to the northern site as we prepare to deploy moorings T1 and T3. A perfect storm (dare I say it) of high winds and choppy waters forced us to abort Friday’s deployment shortly after we threw the upper float of mooring T1 over the side. The wind was howling at 36 knots at the start, and … Read More
Revelle: What is a mooring?
The focus of our cruise so far has been on deploying moorings, the backbone of this data-collecting mission. At their simplest, moorings keep boats, ships or buoys anchored to a single spot. The moorings we are using here, called subsurface moorings, are anchoring long, vertical stretches of line, sometimes several miles long, to the ocean floor. The top end of … Read More
Revelle Day Four: Anchors Away
Years, months and days of planning are finally coming to a head as we continue our fourth day dropping instruments into the water. A storm is coming, so we’re racing to deploy as many moorings as we can before the seas turn angry. Nevertheless, morale is running high from the excitement of pulling off such a finely-tuned collaboration between various … Read More
Revelle: We are off!
After an exciting four days loading up the Revelle, we left the dock at 4pm on Friday and steamed for about 24 hours into the Tasman Sea. We have been lucky to have fair weather conditions as everyone finished preparing instruments for the first mooring. Watch the video to learn more. —Julia Calderone, The Revelle The Tasman Tidal Dissipation Experiment … Read More
Revelle: We’re eight hours from launch!
As we begin our final day of preparations, here are a few images from the last few days of planning and unloading. The Revelle leaves at 4pm from MacQuarie Wharf #4 today! — Julia Calderone, The Revelle The Tasman Tidal Dissipation Experiment // Supported by the National Science Foundation