ORE Seminar: Going Deep Into The Unknown

November 27, 3:15pm - 4:15pm
Mānoa Campus, Sakamaki B101

The deep ocean trenches, or hadal zone, comprise the deepest 40% of the ocean’s entire depth range and are one of the most inaccessible and poorly studied regions in the ocean. At the deepest point in the ocean the hydrostatic pressure reaches 16,000 psi. Very little is known about the circulation, mixing, chemical properties, and biological communities of the hadal water column. This dearth of knowledge largely stems from a lack of suitable instrumentation with which to make observations.

We are in the process of designing and fabricating a unique multidisciplinary profiling instrument, with initial field testing scheduled for summer 2020. This free-falling profiler will descend under its own weight to a preprogrammed height above the seafloor, where it will release ballast weights and return to the surface. During the dive cycle it will measure temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, turbulent microstructure, horizontal velocities, single-frequency bioacoustic backscatter, as well as record video and collect 11 water samples. After recovery the data will be downloaded and the battery and water sampling carousal will be replaced.

Glenn Carter, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Oceanography
University of Hawaii, Manoa


Event Sponsor
Ocean and Resources Engineering, Mānoa Campus

More Information
(808) 956-7572, http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/ore/event/seminar_191127/

Share by email