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SO163-1, 1. weekly report, March 13 to 18, 2002

Cruise SO 163 "Subduction" started on March 13, 2002, in Balboa, Panama. 13 scientists embarked on RV SONNE in Balboa, whereas 3 participants of cruise SO 162 stayed onboard and completed the international group of scientists from Great Britain, France, Spain, and Germany. Although most of the scientific equipment was already set up onboard since the previous cruise, additional work was necessary to load and install the TOBI system of our colleagues from Southampton.

At 11:00 in the morning of March 14 SONNE left the port of Balboa and steamed towards the research area offshore Pacific Costa Rica. The first target was an area west of Nicoya Peninsula, where several mud volcanoes had been found on previous cruises. It was planned to deploy a seismological network comprising 10 ocean bottom hydrophones (OBH) on top and around a mud volcano. These OBH will be recovered during the subsequent leg. During the transit to the working area the Simrad multibeam system was used to map several small areas in order to fill gaps in the existing bathymetric coverage.

The deployment of the 10 OBHs was accomplished in 5 hours in the morning of March 16. After running a CTD to determine the water sound velocity profile, the calibration procedure for the new POSIDONIA USBL-system was started in the afternoon. Unfortunately this calibration failed due to a system error. As the first launch of TOBI was determined to take place in daylight, an additional mapping with Simrad EM120 multibeam, Parasound, and a magnetometer was carried out during the night.

TOBI with a weight of 2 tons as well as the depressor of around 650 kg were launched smoothly in 45 minutes in the morning of march 17. For this first deployment 8 profiles each of 40 nm in length and spaced 5 km apart were planned, adding up to a total time of around 6 days.. First data from the upper continental margin showed many incised, probably active canyons and gullies.

Unfortunately, due to a faulty connection between umbilical- and deep sea cable, data transfer was interrupted. The first profile was abandoned incomplete and TOBI was recovered in daylight in the morning of March 18. The time span for repairs was used for additional bathymetric and magnetic mapping, before TOBI could be relaunched again successfully in the afternoon of the same day.

A strong, increasing wind of windforce 7 to 8 is of major concern, as this will prohibit any launch or recovery operations of deep towed equipment. In spite of this strong wind everybody aboard is well and enjoys a sunny blue sky and comfortable 27 degrees.

On behalf of all aboard
Wilhelm Weinrebe
March 18, 2002

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