1. Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources
  2. Geoscience Data System

Field Activity 2017-001-FA

Identifier 2017-001-FA
Purpose Collect geologic and biological samples from Atlantic methane seeps; survey for methane plumes and acquire seafloor backscatter data
Location Atlantic margin, Hatteras to Baltimore Canyon, shelf-break to 1500 m water depth
Summary Conducted several ROV dives on seeps between just south of Norfolk Canyon northward to Baltimore Canyon. Benthic ecologists collected samples, and extensive geophysical surveys completed. Additional supporting geophysical data acquired for analysis at WHCMSC
Info derived water column imagery, seafloor backscatter, seawater parameters, ecology, authigenic carbonate dates
Comments Project funded by NOAA OER on R/V SHarp with Global Explorer ROV; anticipate 2-3 USGS operational personnel needed for activity, which will include EK80, USGS-run USBL (rental), and possibly a pole-mounted leased MBES
Projects
Platform
Hugh R. Sharp
Length 146 feet/ beam 32 feet.
Global Explorer ROV
ROV depth rated to 3000 meters equipped with imagery still and video cameras, a variety of sensor and sampling equipment.
Itinerary
Start Lewes, DE 2017-05-01
End Lewes, DE 2017-05-12
Days in the field 9
Bounds
West -76.2890625
East -73.58642578
North 38.908133
South 35.13787912

Personnel

Organization
384 Woods Hole Road
Quissett Campus
Woods Hole, MA02543-1598
(508) 548-8700
Principal investigators Carolyn Ruppel
Crew members
Eric Moore
Scientist, Staff
Charles R Worley
Scientist, Staff
Information specialist(s)
Carolyn Ruppel
Specialist, Information
Affiliate principal Amanda Demopoulos, USGS; Nancy Prouty, USGS; Dan Condon, BGS; Diana Sahy, BGS

Data types and categories

Data category: Biological Field Study, Environmental Data, Imagery, Location-Elevation, Sampling, Sonar, Seismics
Data type: Sub Bottom Profiler, Surveys (biological), CTD, Photo, Video, Navigation, Transects, Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Multibeam, Sound Velocity

Equipment used

Equipment Usage description Data types Datasets
Edgetech chirp subbottom profiler 512i ?not used on this cruise? Sub Bottom Profiler (no data reported)
POS-MV Supplied navigation to the USBL system intermittently until May 4. Primarily used for the multibeam systems (SIMRAD EK60 and Reson 7160). Navigation (no data reported)
GPS (wh) Hemisphere GPS. Ship navigation system supplied to the Applied Acoustics EasyTrack Nexus 2 USBL system after May 4. Navigation 1
SBE 911plus CTD CTD 1
SIMRAD EK60 Surveys (biological), Surveys (geochemical), Multibeam, Water column reflectivity 1
Sample containers Biology, Geology (no data reported)
Other Unknown, Multibeam, Single Beam, Sidescan, Interferometric, Sound Velocity (no data reported)
Other Unknown, Geology, Biology, Chemistry (no data reported)
Reson 7160 (used in WH) Multibeam 3

Datasets

Datasets produced in this activity

Dataset name Equipment Description Dataset contact
2017-001-FA_ROVUSBLNav GPS (wh) Ultra-short baseline - navigation points and tracklines for Applied Acoustics EasyTrack Nexus 2 USBL data collected for ROV Global Explorer during USGS field activity 2017-001-FA along the U.S. Atlantic continental shelf break and upper continental slope between the Baltimore and Keller Canyons Wayne E Baldwin

Datasets compiled from multiple sources

Dataset name Equipment Description Dataset contact
2017-001-FA_2017-002-FA_SVPdata SBE 911plus CTD Sound velocity profiles - locations, images, and text files for sound velocity profiles calculated from XBT and CTD casts conducted during USGS field activities 2017-001-FA and 2017-002 FA along the U.S. Atlantic continental shelf break and upper continental slope between the Baltimore and Keller Canyons
2017-001-FA_2017-002-FA_EK60 SIMRAD EK60 Split-beam echo sounder - navigation points, tracklines, and profile images for Simrad EK60 split-beam echo sounder data collected during USGS field activities 2017-001-FA and 2017-002-FA along the U.S. Atlantic continental shelf break and upper continental slope between the Baltimore and Keller Canyons Wayne E Baldwin
2017-001-FA_2017-002-FA_7160Backscatter Reson 7160 (used in WH) Multibeam echo sounder - GeoTIFF images for processed Reson 7160 seafloor backscatter data collected during USGS field activities 2017-001-FA and 2017-002-FA along the U.S. Atlantic continental shelf break and upper continental slope between the Baltimore and Keller Canyons Wayne E Baldwin
2017-001-FA_2017-002-FA_7160Bathymetry Reson 7160 (used in WH) Multibeam echo sounder - GeoTIFF grids for processed Reson 7160 seafloor bathymetry data collected during USGS field activities 2017-001-FA and 2017-002-FA along the U.S. Atlantic continental shelf break and upper continental slope between the Baltimore and Keller Canyons Wayne E Baldwin
2017-001-FA_2017-002-FA_7160Tracklines Reson 7160 (used in WH) Multibeam echo sounder - navigation tracklines for Reson 7160 data collected during USGS field activities 2017-001-FA and 2017-002-FA along the U.S. Atlantic continental shelf break and upper continental slope between the Baltimore and Keller Canyons Wayne E Baldwin

Publications

Samples collected during this field activity