The JOIDES Resolution is an incredible floating science laboratory! This week we will learn how scientists and crew bring sediments up from below the sea floor and begin studying them right away--all while floating in the middle of Baffin Bay. I also hope you'll join Tim and me for our next live event, where you'll get a tour of the science lab and this whole process.
For today, let's take a first look at how the JOIDES Resolution and its team of engineers, scientists and technicians get sediments from the sea floor to the onboard lab for further study.
STEP ONE
Before scientists can analyze cores, first they need to be extracted from the ocean floor. If you were in charge of getting samples from the sea floor (far beneath the surface), how would you do it?
On the JOIDES Resolution, the drilling crew stands up 30-meter sections of pipe into the tall drilling derrick. Then the big winch (drawworks) uses pulleys in the derrick to lower the pipe down through a hole in the bottom of the ship and into the ocean.
