MageeNews.com

Researchers on NOAA Ocean Science Mission Alter Course
to Collect Sediment and Water Samples Near Deepwater Horizon Spill

OXFORD, Miss. - Scientists and technicians from the University of
Mississippi and University of Southern Mississippi are part of a
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-sponsored and
repurposed ocean mission that is collecting seafloor and water column
data from areas near the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Researchers from the National Institute for Undersea Science and
Technology sailed late Tuesday on a university research ship to
obtain core sediment samples from the seafloor and water samples from
the water column in areas near the Deepwater Horizon spill source.
They are aboard the Pelican, operated by the Louisiana Universities
Marine Consortium, which departed from Cocodrie, La.
The team collected its first samples at midday Wednesday and will
continue doing so for several days before returning to port Sunday.
The samples are expected to provide important information about the
abundance of marine organisms and the presence of chemicals in ocean
water and sediments - information for a baseline against which to
measure change if those areas are affected by sinking oil.
The ship had been outfitted and ready to support a different
NOAA-funded mission: to explore for deep-sea corals and hydrate
communities associated with natural gas and oil seeps in the seafloor
as well as mud volcanoes and shipwrecks of historical interest. That
mission, which would have gone to an area in the Gulf not affected by
the spill, was scrubbed in favor of gathering timely and much-needed
data close to the spill's source.
"We plan to sample as close to the well head as is safe, reasonable
and allowable," said Ray Highsmith, executive director for NIUST and
principal investigator for both the original and revised mission. "We
then plan to travel northwestward toward our long-term study site at
MC-118, with stops for sampling, and then likely, sample northward
from MC-118."
MC-118 stands for "Mississippi Canyon Block 118," an area about nine
miles from the oil spill's source and the site of the Gulf of Mexico
Consortium's Methane Hydrate Seafloor Observatory. In the seven years
of the observatory's development, scientists have collected a wealth
of geologic, physical, chemical and biological data describing the
area - data that could be important in measuring changes there that
stem from the spill.
With NOAA's agreement to change missions, scientists and technicians
on the ship and ashore worked quickly to adjust staffing and to
remove NIUST's two autonomous undersea vehicles from the ship. The
AUVs would not have the appropriate sample-collecting capability
onboard for the spill-related mission and would not work well in an
oiled environment.
The research team brought aboard a large box corer used to take
sediment samples from the seafloor and installed a large reel of
cable to allow the corer to operate at depths equal to the spill
source at 5,000 feet. An instrument called a CTD
(Conductivity-Temperature-Depth) will measure the water's salinity,
temperature, density and oxygen concentration at various water column
depths, while bottles on the CTD obtain water samples.
The team includes chief scientist Arne Diercks, marine technicians
Andy Gossett and Matt Lowe, and AUV engineer Max Woolsey, all based
at the UM Field Station's undersea vehicle shop; scientist Vernon
Asper and AUV engineer Karl MacLetchie both based at the USM facility
at Stennis Space Center; and Luke McKay, a student at the University
of North Carolina. Diercks and Woolsey work for USM but are stationed
at the UM Field Station.
Before the ship departed, scientists and crew members received
Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response training as
required by OSHA for those involved in the cleanup of hazardous
substances. Oil is identified as a hazardous substance.
NIUST is a partnership of the University of Mississippi, University
of Southern Mississippi and NOAA, funded by NOAA's Office of Ocean
Exploration and Research. Samples from the mission will be studied by
NOAA and by labs at the universities of Georgia and North Carolina
and other members of the Hydrates Research Consortium.
NOAA works to understand and predict changes in the Earth's
environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun,
and conserves and manages the nation's coastal and marine resources.
For more information, go to http://www.noaa.gov or on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/noaa.lubchenco, or contact Fred Gorell at
301-734-1021.
For more information on the Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Research
Consortium, go to
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/mmri/programs/gulf_res.html. For more
information on NIUST, go to http://www.niust.org/.
(staff report)
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Main Photo:

NIUST team members Carl MacLetchie (left), Arne Dierks, Luke McKay and Matt Lowe examine a sediment sample from a control site outside the oil spill area in the Gulf of Mexico. NIUST photo.

Bottom Left:

NIUST team members Carl MacLetchie (left), Luke McKay and Max Woolsey examine one of the first sediment samples brought aboard the Pelican from a control site outside the oil spill area in the Gulf of Mexico. NIUST photo.

Bottom Center:

Edge of the oil slick near the Deepwater Horizon accident site. NIUST photo.

Bottom Right:

A dense area of the oil slick. NIUST photo.