NOAA Teacher at Sea
Cindy Byers
Aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather April 29 – May 13, 2018
Mission: Southeast Alaska Hydrographic Survey
Geographic Area of Cruise: Southeast Alaska
Date: May 19, 2018
Weather: It is SPRING in Wisconsin!
Personal Log
I got home this week from an absolutely amazing experience on NOAA Ship Fairweather! I arrived so excited to share what I have learned with students and other teachers alike! I went to school 30 minutes before the end of the day bell when I arrived. I felt like I was welcomed back like a hero! My students and the staff were happy to see me, and I was very happy to see them! I got lots of hugs and high fives. It was especially exciting to hear that the students had enjoyed and learned from my blog. They especially liked to learn what I had eaten!
I was able to share some pictures and stories this week as our year winds down. I have begun organizing my photos and have plans with the staff to give a presentations to all the 4-8 grade students in the fall. Ideas are flowing through me about how I will incorporate my new knowledge and experiences into my different curriculums. There is so much potential!
I have not stopped talking about my experience with people in and out of school. I love having so many experiences to share. The people of NOAA Ship Fairweather where so willing to teach me about hydrography and ship life. I have strong memories of people asking if I wanted to try doing something, or calling me over to explain something they were doing. I, of course, hopped in and tried everything I could! I got to drive the ship on my first morning! I also was able to drive the launches! (Thanks Colin!) I learned so much about being a hydrographer thanks to all the surveyors! What a wonderful group of people. I could thank everyone really, the deck crew, the engineers, the stewards, the NOAA Corps officers, and the great leadership of the XO and CO. I was able to learn from all of them. Everyone always made me feel like they had time to teach me how to do things, and to answer questions. It is exciting to be in a place with so many talented educators!
This is a trip that will influence how I approach my teaching and my everyday life. I will never forget the kindness and caring of NOAA Ship Fairweather personnel, or the beauty and splendor of SE Alaska!
NOAA Corps Officers! Mustaches are required.Taking a CTD CastSetting up a HorCon (Horizontal Control) StationOur NOAA Physical Scientist at Dawes GlacierA Bald Eagle skull being examinedSkiff ride to a shore partyA game of Settlers of CatanSam, one of the stewards, in the galleyAli Johnson, Hydrographer, at workHydrographer Bekah Gossett looking up marine mammalsNOAA Corps Officer LTJG Douglas on the bowLife on the BridgeKayakingMe and the mountains from the glacial moraine
NOAA Teacher at Sea Cindy Byers Aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather April 29 – May 13
Mission: Southeast Alaska Hydrographic Survey
Geographic Area of Cruise: Southeast Alaska
Date: May 11, 2018
Weather from the Bridge:
Latitude:57°43.3 N Longitude:133°35.5 W Sea Wave Height: 0 Wind Speed: 5 knots Wind Direction: variable Visibility:3 nautical miles Air Temperature: 11.5°C Sky:100% cloud coverage
Me ready to get on a launch with a float coat and hard hat
Science and Technology Log
The area that NOAA Ship Fairweather is surveying is Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm. These are fjords, which are glacial valleys carved by a receding (melting) glacier. Before the surveying could begin the launches(small boats) were sent up the fjords, in pairs for safety, to see how far up the fjord they could safely travel. There were reports of ice closer to the glacier. Because the glacier is receding, some of the area has never been mapped. This is an area important for tourism, as it is used by cruise ships. I was assigned to go up Endicott Arm towards Dawes Glacier.
Starting to See Ice in Endicott ArmA Launch at Dawes Glacier
Almost as soon as we turned into the arm, we saw that there was ice. As we continued farther, the ice pieces got more numerous. We were being very careful not to hit ice or get the launch into a dangerous place. The launch is very sturdy, but the equipment used to map the ocean floor is on the hull of the boat and needs to be protected. We were able to get to within about 8 kilometers of the glacier, which was very exciting.
Dawes Glacier
The launches have been going out every day this week to map areas in Tracy Arm. I have been out two of the days doing surveying and bottom sampling. During this time I have really enjoyed looking at the glacial ice. It looks different from ice that you might find in a glass of soda. Glacial ice is actually different. It is called firn. What happens is that snow falls and is compacted by the snow that falls on top of it. This squeezes the air out of of the snow and it becomes more compact. In addition, there is some thawing and refreezing that goes on over many seasons. This causes the ice crystals to grow. The firn ends up to be a very dense ice.
Ice in Endicott Arm
Glaciers are like slow moving rivers. Like a river, they move down a slope and carve out the land underneath them. Glaciers move by interior deformation, which means the ice crystals actually change shape and cause the ice to move forward, and by basal sliding, which means the ice is sliding on a layer of water.
The front of a glacier will calve or break off. The big pieces of ice that we saw in the water was caused by calving of the glacier. What is also very interesting about this ice is that it looks blue. White light, of course, has different wavelengths. The red wavelengths are longer and are absorbed by the ice. The blue waves are shorter and are scattered. This light does not get far into the ice and is scattered back to your eyes. This is why it looks blue.
Blue Glacial Ice
Meltwater is also a beautiful blue-green color. This is also caused by the way that light scatters off the sediment that melts out of the glacial ice. This sediment, which got ground up in the glacier is called rock flour.
This is the green-blue water from glacial melt waterWaterfall in Endicott Arm
Mapping and bottom sampling in the ice
NOAA Ship Fairweather has spent the last four days mapping the area of Tracy Arm that is accessible to the launches. This means each boat going back and forth in assigned areas with the multibeam sonar running. The launches also stop and take CTD (Conductivity, Temperature and Depth) casts. These are taken to increase the accuracy of the sound speed data.
Rocks and a sediment chart from a bottom sample
Today I went out on a launch to take bottom samples. This information is important to have for boats that are wanting to anchor in the area. Most of the bottom samples we found were a fine sand. Some had silt and clay in them also. All three of these sediment types are the products of the rocks that have been ground up by ice and water. The color ranged from gray-green to tan. The sediment size was small, except in one area that did not have sand, but instead had small rocks.
The instrument used to grab the bottom sediment had a camera attached and so videos
The Bottom Sampler
were taken of each of the 8 bottom grabs. It was exciting to see the bottom, including some sea life such as sea stars, sea pens and we even picked up a small sea urchin. My students will remember seeing a bottom sample of Lake Huron this year. The video today looked much the same.
Personal Log
I have seen three bears since we arrived in Holkham Bay where the ship is anchored. Two of them have been black. Today’s bear was brown. It was very fun to watch from our safe distance in the launch.
I have really enjoyed watching the birds too. There are many waterfowl that I do not know. My students would certainly recognize the northern loons that we have seen quite often.
I have not really talked about the three amazing meals we get each day. In the morning we are treated to fresh fruit, hot and cold cereal, yogurt, made to order eggs, potatoes, and pancakes or waffles. Last night it was prime rib and shrimp. There is always fresh vegetables for salad and a cooked vegetable too. Carrie is famous for her desserts, which are out for lunch and dinner. Lunches have homemade cookies and dinners have their own new cake type. If we are out on a launch there is a cooler filled with sandwich fixings, chips, cookies, fruit snacks, trail mix, hummus and vegetables.
The cereal and milk is always available for snacks, along with fresh fruit, ice cream, peanut butter, jelly and different breads. Often there are granola bars and chips. It would be hard to ever be hungry!
Kayaking, see the ship in the background?Three Kayakers – me in the center
NOAA Teacher at Sea Cindy Byers Aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather April 29 – May 13
Mission: Southeast Alaska Hydrographic Survey
Geographic Area of Cruise: Southeast Alaska
Date: May 9, 2018
Weather from the Bridge
Latitude: 57° 43.2 N Longitude:133° 35.6 Sea Wave Height: 0 Wind Speed: 3 knots Wind Direction: Variable Visibility:10 Nautical miles Air Temperature: 15° C Sky: 90% cloud cover
Dawes Glacier In Endicott Fjord
Science and Technology Log
When I reflect on the personalities of the people living and working on NOAA Ship Fairweather, two words come to mind: challenge and adventure. They are also people that are self-confident, friendly, they see great purpose, and take great pride in their work. Life is not always easy on board a ship. People are often very far from family and away from many of the comforts of home. But for this group, it seems that they are willing to give up those hardships for being at sea. Below are some interviews I did with personnel on the ship.
Terry – Deck Crew
Terry is part of what is called the deck crew. He reported to me that his duties include standing bridge watch, which means looking out from the bridge to warn the bridge crew of any obstacles or dangers ahead of them. On this trip those hazards have been fishing vessels, and gear, and whales. He also will be at the helm, which means steering the ship as directed by a bridge officer. Other bridge duties include monitoring the radio and radar when the ship is anchored. He said that like everyone on the bridge, he needs to be aware of where the ship is at all times. He is part of the Deck Department so he does maintenance such as keeping things greased, painted and clean. The deck department also keeps the ships interior clean, except for the galley and the mess
Terry at the Helm
What got you interested in the sea? When I was eight, I moved from Michigan to Florida and I fell in love with the sea. I used to run up and down the beach.
I liked Jimmy Buffett, “A Pirate Turns Forty,” and I liked reading adventure books by Jack London. When I was 13, I also read Moby Dick and The Odyssey. I read The Odyssey every year, I love that book. I really like the lore of the sea and the freedom of being at sea. I like the idea of going to exotic places.
When were you first in a boat in the ocean? When I was 10 years old I went on a day cruise from Tampa, Florida. It was a dive boat that was used to take tourists out. I loved it, if I could get on a boat, I would go. I tried to build a skiff, but it took on water.
When did you first work on the ocean? I went to sea when I was 24 years old. In my first job I worked bringing supplies to oil rigs. I found an ad for the job and they said no experience was needed. I wanted to be a captain, I wanted to travel and see the world. I watched a lot of Indiana Jones. I wanted to be an adventurer. When oil prices went down I was out of a job, but in 2000 I worked for another oil company.
What other jobs have you had? After 9/11, I joined the Military Sealift Command, which is a civilian part of the Navy. They bring food, fuel, and supplies to Navy ships [he was in the Mediterranean Sea.] Military ships do not fuel in ports where they could get attacked.
In 2013 I had a wife and two kids and so I did different jobs, not at sea.
When did you first start to work for NOAA? In 2016 I was hired by NOAA on NOAA Ship Fairweather. This boat and NOAA Ship Rainier are where people start. I started as an Ordinary Seaman. Now I am Able Seaman. To move up I needed to take a course in survival training and fire training. I did this in Louisiana at a community college, it took two weeks. I also needed six months of experience on a NOAA vessel.
Terry at the helm
What is your favorite part of the job? I like being at the helm and steering the ship. I like going to different places and seeing different things. I like that the ship has extra functions to keep up moral up. I even did a comedy show twice. It is like your own community. It is great being part of a team and accomplishing a goal.
What is the hardest part of the job? The hardest thing is being away from home. For every 9 months away, I am home for a few months, that is spread out over a year. The season is 7-8 months.
What do you think it takes to be on a ship away from your family? Everyone has to be a team player. You need to really get along with others. People need to be confident and you need to show respect to each other. You live in very tight quarters. Nobody has a job that is small, everybody’s job needs to be done.
Jeff – NOAA Corps Junior Officer
I grew up in Juno, Alaska and went to college there. I got a Bachelor’s degree in math, I never thought I would be interested in math. I started out with an art major then went to geology, then biology, then math. I liked that I learned a new set of rules during the day and then got to apply them to problems that I could solve. It took me six years to get my degree. I paid for it myself by working and I was living in a sailboat in the harbor.
Jeff in the launch during bottom sampling
What brought you to a career in NOAA? Previously I was a Sergeant in the Army for five years. I was searching for tide information for a fishing trip and was on a NOAA website, There I saw a recruiting video and decided to do that. It took a couple years to get into the NOAA Corps. I was first hired on a NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson as a General Vessel Assistant in the deck department. Then I found out I was accepted into the NOAA Corps. After my Officer Training in New London, Connecticut I was assigned to NOAA Ship Fairweather.
What is your role on the ship? I am a Junior Officer. I am here to learn how to drive ships and learn the science of hydrography. I am learning how to become a professional mariner.
What are the best parts of your job? Ever since the Army I enjoyed being part of a team. On the ship there is a lot of social interaction. It is a tight community of people that live and work together. We have all types of personalities.
I really like going out on a launch (the small boats used for surveying) and collecting data. We are in beautiful places and we get to eat our picnic lunches and listen to music and work together to figure out how to drive our lines and to collect the data we need.
I also like processing and organizing the data we get. Our project areas are divided up into acquisition areas and I work as a Sheet Manager for an area. So, I am responsible for taking the data that is cleaned up from the night processors (who clean up the data when it first comes in) and getting a map ready for the launches with areas that need more data collection and safety hazards marked. I keep track of what needs to be done and report those needs to my superiors.
What do you like to do on the ship when you aren’t working? I like the VersaClimber. (This is in the gym. There is a ship contest going on to see who can climb highest!) I used to do some fishing. I also spend time communicating with my family.
What do you miss when you are at sea? Mostly I miss my family. I also miss doing things like going for a walk to get coffee. Since the field season is all summer, I really miss going camping with my family.
What will you be doing for your next assignment with NOAA? Assignments are two years on a ship and three years on land. Next, NOAA is sending me to graduate school for three years. So I will be working on a Master’s Degree in Ocean Engineering with an emphasis in Ocean Mapping.
Niko – Chief Engineer
I had a conversation with Niko one day because I was really interested in how the water on the ship was acquired and disposed of. I learned that and a little more!
I asked Niko what got him interested in being at sea. He told me that this family had a cabin on an island in the state of Washington. He loved driving the families small boat whenever he could. He would take it out for 8 hours a day. In Middle School and High School he did small engine repair. He took a lot of shop classes and was in a program called “First Robotics.” He thought he wanted to be a welder. His mom worked for the BP oil company and through that he learned about maritime school. He went to school at Cal Maritime, (The California State University Maritime Academy.) There he studied Marine Engineering Technology. He said it was hard. Of the 75 students that started in his class, only 14 graduated on time.
Niko in his office
He told me that NOAA Ship Fairweather has engines from 1968, and they are due for a rebuild, They have 20,000 hours since the last rebuild in 2004, that is like running them 3 straight years..
Niko is the Chief Engineer. He has a department of nine engineers.
I asked him about the freshwater on the ship. He said the ship uses 600 gallons a day without the laundry and 2000 gallons a day if the laundry is in use. It takes 17,000 gallons of water to go for 10 days. The ship has freshwater tanks that are filled when they are in port, but the ship can produce freshwater from salt water. To do this the ship must be moving. It uses a method which evaporates the salt water so the freshwater is left behind. This costs one gallon of diesel to produce 9.7 gallons of freshwater. This costs is $0.30 a gallon for water. The sinks, showers, dishwasher and laundry all use freshwater. The toilets use saltwater.
Personal Log
I have learned an amazing amount about ocean mapping from my time on NOAA Ship Fairweather. I have also learned a lot about different NOAA careers and life on a ship. But like any good experience, it is always the people that make things great!
I have really enjoyed getting to meet all of the people of the ship. They have been so kind to take me in and show me their jobs and let me try out new things, like driving a ship and a launch!
We have also had fun kayaking, watching wildlife, and taking a walk on shore.
Eagle on IceLife Jackets and Float CoatsKayaks on boardHere is a Brown Bear that was along the shoreline todayLaunches leaving for a day of surveyingA Launch
Latitude: 57 43.3 N Longitude: 133 43.3 Sea Wave Height: 0 Wind Speed: 2 knots Wind Direction: 202 Visibility: 8 Nautical Mines Air Temperature: 14 C Sky: High Cirrus Clouds
Science and Technology Log
When I first learned that I would be on NOAA Ship Fairweather, one of the possible sites, I was told, was a survey including a mud volcano. I did not know anything about mud volcanoes. I knew about ice volcanoes on moons in our solar system, but not about mud volcanoes. NOAA Ship Fairweather found evidence of the methane seeps coming from mud volcanoes, while surveying the Queen Charlotte fault last season. A seep is where gases from below the surface comes out. The area surveyed the first week I was on the ship was just north of the seeps. I wanted to know more so I could share this information. Here is a little background.
Cindy Byers from the ship’s deck in Southeast, Alaska
In 2015 geologists found a 700 foot gas plume and a couple other active mud cones along the Queen Charlotte – Fairweather fault. Although this fault is not in a highly populated area, it is very active. In the area where the geologists were surveying, liquid natural gas plants and a busy port were close by. They already knew of earthquakes along the fault and that an earthquake in the area today could cause a landslide and generate tsunamis on shore. Older mapping done in the area showed past landslides. But the 2015 survey was looking for the “seeps.”
Scientists first noticed the methane plume coming from the area near the fault. The seep was from an underwater mud volcano. A mud volcano does not have to be made of igneous rock like a traditional volcano. It is formed from gases and mud creating a volcano shaped cone.
Geologists have questioned whether these mud volcanoes may provide a lubricant that could actually lessen the friction on the fault in the area. It would cause the tectonic plates of area to slowly creep along.
NOAA Ship Fairweather also found these seeps during a mapping of the ocean floor along the fault. Below on the right are the plumes of gas rising from the sea floor. Look how high they are rising. Also notice the fan shape on the right. That shows the width of the multibeam sonar at this depth. The colored area on the left are also from NOAA Ship Fairweather’s multibeam sonar with the blues being deeper areas of the seafloor and green to yellow to red getting more shallow. The circled areas show where the seeps were found while the fault line was being mapped.
Soundings from the Multibeam Sonar over a mud volcano.
Datum from NOAA Ship Fairweather showing a seep.
Life under the sea?
At these seeps, geologists have also found animals that live off of the nutrients of chemosynthetic bacteria. This is bacteria that, instead using the energy of the sun (photosynthesis,) to make energy, they use the materials that come from thermal vents in the ocean floor.
Mud Volcano Photo credit NOAA
What are other geologic wonders of the area?
First of all there are hot springs! I learned about these hot springs from several of the people on NOAA Ship Fairweather. They report it to be a fun place to visit for a little well deserved time off. There are many hot springs in other areas of Southeast Alaska too. It is a draw for tourists to the area. The hot springs are produced because water seeps down a crack in the Earth’s surface and gets heated, then the super-heated water rises to the surface.
The geology of rock types of the area are also a wonder. It is actually quite complicated, the landscape and seafloor features have been influenced by glaciation, volcanism and plate tectonics, and these geologic influences are still present today. The surveying on NOAA Ship Fairweather is vital to the understanding of the geology that shaped the area. The clues that are beneath the sea help geologist begin to understand southeast Alaska’s dynamic past, and help to predict the geologic future.
Personal Log
After one week on the ship I feel like I just might have to stay! The surveying is really interesting and the views are amazing. When I first arrived I was confused by the passageways and ladder wells on the ship, but now it seems so easy!
This is my room on NOAA Ship FairweatherThis is the” Mess” (where we eat.)
I have discovered a few of my favorite places! I love my small room with its own port hole. I really enjoy all of the meals and having time to talk to everyone onboard. People come from all over the US and do a variety of jobs on the ship.
Member of NOAA Corps marking our location on a chart.
Tomorrow I will have a chance to go off the ship on the small boats. That sounds like great fun!
These are the small boats used for mapping in places that the ship can not do safely.
Did you know?
We just got to a new area with glaciers. The one we could photograph today is Sumdum Glacier. It sounds like a really funny name. It is a Native American word meaning, the sound glaciers make when they are calving, which is what it is called when ice falls off of them.
Sumdum Glacier
This is the view from the place the ship is anchored
Some information from:
“Active Mud Volcano Field Discovered off Southeast Alaska.” Eos, 30 Nov. 2015, eos.org/articles/active-mud-volcano-field-discovered-off-southeast-alaska.
NOAA Ship Fairweather uses a multibeam sonar to map the ocean floor. Sonar stands for SOund Navigation And Ranging. This ship’s multibeam sonar sends sound (acoustic energy) to the seafloor in a fan shape, and then listens for the echos. The speed sound travels is vital to knowing the depth the sound has traveled to. Sound travels about 1500 meters per second in seawater. This is much faster than in air where it travels at about 340 meters per second. Sound speed is an important consideration in ocean floor mapping.
What factors influence the strength of acoustic return? (sound back to the ship)
Spreading – As the sound energy gets farther from its source (the bottom of the ship) and after it hits its target, the sound wave gets weaker. This is why you can hear someone standing next to you better than somebody on the other side of a room.
Absorption – The energy of the wave heats up the molecules of water it goes through because of friction and loses energy. This is also the reason you can hear someone standing next to you better than somebody on the other side of a room.
Ambient Noise – . This refers to the fact that the fish, (towed behind the ship) the ship, and wave action are also producing sound sources of their own. The sound “signal” needs to be extracted from this “noise”.
Target Strength – If the seafloor is muddy, some of the energy of the sound beam will be absorbed and less will be sent back to the ship. If it is a rocky bottom, the sound energy scatters in different directions and a weaker signal returns.
How is the sound speed measured?
When you hear MVP in sports? MVP means Most Valuable Players, but on NOAA Ship Fairweather the MVP stands forMoving Vessel Profiler. The MVP consists of a small crane on the fantail (the back deck on the ship) that pulls what is called a FISH! The MVP has a computer controlled winch that can be used while the ship is moving.
This is the MVP that is on the ships fantail
The surveyors (marine technicians) call to the bridge to ask if they can, “take a cast.” This means they will lower the “fish” to get readings and learn the speed of sound for the area. The bridge, which is where the boat is steered from, will respond that they may cast, only if it is safe. Our last “cast” measured the water column down to 217 meters as we were travelling at 6 knots (about 7 miles per hour.) The ship does not drop the “fish” while it is travelling at a high speed because that puts too much tension on the cable.
Bringing in the “fish”
The fish is the instrument that is pulled behind the ship, that collects data. The fish is actually a science instrument, much like the Hydrolab that we use at school. It is a CTD, and is used to measure conductivity, temperature and pressure. This data allows the CTD to measure the speed of sound.
This picture show how the fish is grabbed from the water
Conductivity is a measurement of the ability of water to conduct an electrical current. The dissolved salts in the water are the conductors of the electricity. The salts, as you may remember, come from the breakdown of rocks and are carried by rivers to the ocean. These “salts” are electrically charged ions, mostly in the form of sodium and chlorine. So, the conductivity measures the salinity (saltiness) of the ocean. This is very important, because the salinity affects the speed of sound. Since the sonar is sending sound to the bottom of the ocean, conductivity or salinity measurements are very important.
As sound travels through different densities (caused by the salinity) it causes refraction. You have seen refraction when you put a straw in a glass of water. The straw appears to bend. So the salinity of the water needs to be measured using the conductivity instruments in order to account for different densities caused by the salinity levels.
Here is the fish out of water!
Temperature also affects the density of the water. Colder water is more dense than warmer water. Remember when we studied how colder air is more dense than warmer air?
Since salinity and temperature change with depth, the CDT also measures depth. All three of these instruments together help determine the speed of sound through the water. Since the sonar uses sound to map the ocean floor, measuring the speed of sound is vital for collecting good data.
The speed of sound generally increases with an increase of temperature, salinity or pressure.
These are two CDT’s (Conductivity, Density and Temperature) that can be used if the ship is not moving. They sure look like our Hydrolab!
Did you know?
Datum – a noun meaning a piece of information, while data is plural.
Swath – a fan shaped area created by the sound beams
Transducer – where sound leaves from.
Receiver – where the sound comes back to.
Personal Log
One of the most exciting things about being at sea, is seeing animals. On our first day out we were lucky to see a pod of orcas whales (killer whales.) Since then, someone on board reported the whales and got information back from NOAA Fisheries about whales they could identify from the pictures sent. We found out that whale A4, named Sonora, and one of her four offspring A46, named Surf, were part of pod A5 which is a group that usually is in the water near British Columbia, but sometimes can be found in southeast Alaska, where we are right now. One male, named A66, was identified by the pictures. He was born in 1996! Look for more information about this pod here http://cetacousin.org/wild-database/orcas/northern-resident-orcas/ or http://orcinusorca.nl/
Orca whale near Ketchikan, Alaska Photo Credit Megan Shapiro
Today we saw group of Dall’s porpoise. They are very fast moving porpoise. They are found in the Northern Pacific Ocean in groups of 2-20 and can live 15-20 years. Individuals are about 7-8 feet long.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Cindy Byers Aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather April 29 – May 13, 2018
Mission: Southeast Alaska Hydrographic Survey
Geographic Area of Cruise: Southeast Alaska
Date: May 2, 2018
Weather From the Bridge
Latitude: 54°41.2 N
Longitude: 134°15.3 W
Sea Wave Height: 5 feet
Wind Speed: 7 knots
Wind Direction: 330°
Visibility: 2 nautical miles
Air Temperature: 9.9°C
Sky: Complete Cloud Cover
Science and Technology Log
NOAA Ship Fairweather is now 46 miles off the southeast coast of Alaska, mapping the ocean floor over a fault. This a transform boundary, so it is a strike slip fault. It is the boundary between the North American and Pacific plates. The United States Geologic Survey (USGS) has hired NOAA to survey the ocean floor in this area called the Queen Charlotte fault. The entire section of the fault is called the Queen Charlotte – Fairweather fault (named for Mount Fairweather, just like the ship’s name.) It runs for over 1,200 kilometers from Yakatat, Alaska to the north and British Columbia to the south. This is a part of a long fault along this plate boundary that is called the San Andreas fault when it is on land in California
The last time this particular area was surveyed was for the creation of navigational charts, between 1900 and 1938, but without accuracy or data density that the multibeam sonar being used today has. Once this portion is surveyed, the entire fault will have been mapped. The mapping has been done by the USGS, the Canadian Geologic Survey, and NOAA.
The Queen Charlotte Fault
The photo above shows the features of the sea floor. It is set on top of a navigational chart. You can see the numbers on the old chart that represent depth reading. The data collected today shows depth for the entire area mapped and the features on the sea floor.
Looking at what NOAA Ship Fairweather has already mapped, the fault is very distinct as are the channels that have been offset by past seismic activity. These channels were created from runoff as the glaciers receded from this area 17,000 years ago. Using the offset measurements and the time since the canals where formed, scientists have given a slip rate of 5.5 centimeters per year to this area of the fault. This makes it one of the fastest moving continental – ocean transform boundaries.
Mapping
NOAA ship Fairweather has sonar that was built for detecting hazards for surface navigation, but it is capable of surveying to several kilometers in depth. The survey team has figured out how map at these great depths up to 2,100 meters. It involves going slowly over the area, and gathering richer data by going over part of the previous survey lines. This is much like painting a wall, where the painter overlaps their brushstrokes so there are not gaps in the coverage. The multibeam solar is also directed in a narrow band, at this depth, for more accurate data.
The blue squiggly lines show where mapping is happening. The other colors are where we have been.
Why do you think this information is wanted by geologists?
The fault has produced at least seven earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 7. An 8.1 magnitude earthquake was generated from this fault near British Columbia in 1949. To date, it is the largest Canadian earthquake recorded. In 1958, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake above Lituya, Alaska created a massive underwater landslide which produced a tsunami sending water 525 meters (1700 feet feet) up a mountainside. More recently in 2012, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake was measured from this fault, and in 2013, Craig, Alaska was hit with a magnitude 7.5 earthquake.
These five screens are used by the survey team when the multibeam sonar is in use.
Scientists want to know more about this fault, which could cause further damage to areas of southeast, Alaska. From the seabed mapping, geologists hope to better understand the slip rate and the intervals between earthquakes.
Personal Log
I have been so impressed with the people on NOAA Ship Fairweather. Everyone has been so welcoming and kind. This small group of people living in small quarters could be difficult for many people, but everyone here is so enthusiastic about the mission and their jobs. They are very open to sharing what they know with me, including explaining the science and technology of the equipment and how the ship functions.
It has been really fun learning about this fault and the surrounding underwater topography. Being able to see the sea bottom as we continue over it is amazing!
I am so happy I will get a chance to share this science with my students. I hope they noticed, as they read this post, the highlighted terms and concepts that we learned this year about faults and earthquakes.
Did you know?
I found a term that was new to me, tectonic geomorphology. It is the study of the interaction between active plates and land process, and how these shape landscapes.
Information used in this post can partly from:
“A Closer Look at an Undersea Source of Alaskan Earthquakes.” Earth and Space Science, vol. 99, no. 2, 2018, pp. 1–6.
In two weeks I will be embarking on my first ocean science experience aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather. After having several friends become “Teachers at Sea,” I just knew that I wanted to have this experience so I could become a better ocean educator and bring this knowledge back to my students.
I am a seventh and eighth grade teacher from Rosholt Middle School, a small school district in rural Wisconsin. Our pre-Kindergarten through 12 grade building has 650 students. As a middle school teacher my duties include earth science, health, language and reading. I also work with small groups of gifted students two hours a day. It makes me flexibility and a “jack of all trades” as they say.
My real passion is science and environmental education, and I have found ways to teach my other subjects often using these as topics.
My students would tell you I like boats and working with scientists! I have spent time working with Sea Grant on the Great Lakes. Sea Grant is a network that is a partnership between 33 university-based programs and NOAA. They are in every coastal and Great Lakes state. I have attended and taught workshops for teachers through Sea Grant. In 2011, at the invitation of Sea Grant, I spent 9 days on Lake Superior with 16 other teachers and 3 scientists aboard the Environmental Protection Agency’s R/V Lake Guardian studying near and offshore environments.
In 2016, I was aboard Wisconsin’s Flagship, Denis Sullivan , with Sea Grant and a group of teachers on a six day journey up Lake Michigan and across Lake Superior. This is the same tall ship that my seventh grade students sail on each fall.
My students on S/V Denis Sullivan
Raising the sails
I am so excited to be working on an ocean vessel. I have always dreamed of going to Alaska, and I can not think of a better way to do it.
I will be on a hydrographic survey to collect data that will be used to produce maps for safe navigation. The instruments onboard include multibeam echosounders and side sonar that work to image the ocean floor. Four small boats are also used to set up tide measuring stations. The data is also used for other scientific and environmental prediction purposes such as tsunami displacement measurements and mapping of fish habitat.
NOAA Ship Fairweather (Courtesy of NOAA)
I am very excited to share how all of the science equipment is used and how the data is organized. I would like to find a way to have my students be involved in science labs that use some of the techniques and data used by the scientists on the ship. I would also like to learn more about careers in NOAA that some of my students may be interested in pursuing!
Did you know?
NOAA’s mission is: Science, Service and Stewardship
1. To understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans and coasts;
2. To share that knowledge and information with others; and
3. To conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources.
