The R/V Planet is unlike any ship that I have ever seen. The ship is owned by FWG (WTD 71), a German naval research organization. While at first glance it appears to be a type of catamaran, it is actually a SWATH (Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull) vessel. The main difference between the two is in the volume of the ship that comes in contact with wave energy. Both ships are stabilized by twin hulls, but a catamaran has two conventional hulls, while a SWATH ship’s design is more like a platform built on top of two submarines. Because of this, only the parts of the ship that connect the platform to the submarines will be affected by wave energy. This makes the R/V Planet very stable in rough seas, which is beneficial for acoustic research work. Additional measures, such as suspending the ship’s diesel generators on springs, have been taken to minimize ship noise that may contaminate acoustic measurements.

This was the R/V Planet’s first trip across the Atlantic Ocean to collaborate with American scientists. The goal of our expedition was to better understand how mines bury in carbonate sediments and to classify the seafloor off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, where carbonate sediments are known to be abundant. Additionally, we were able to collect information to expand dbSeabed, a database managed by Dr. Chris Jenkins (University of Colorado at Boulder) that provides geographic seafloor substrate data by compiling thousands of individual datasets.

We collected our data primarily using 3 instruments: 1. sidescan sonar, 2. a van Veen grab, and 3. a Burial Recording Mine produced by FWG. An underwater camera was also deployed as an additional means of ground truthing. The sidescan sonar provided images of the seafloor by transmitting a fan-shaped sound beam and interpreting the acoustic backscatter, or echoes, returned to the receiver. The sidescan data allowed us to categorize the seafloor by it’s acoustic profile. Grab samples were collected periodically along short transects to determine the relationship between actual seafloor properties and the acoustic backscatter data collected by the sidescan. For example, we observed higher backscatter in regions with courser grains and lower backscatter in regions with finer grains. We also deployed a Mine Burial Recorded (MBR), a tool developed by FWG to test seafloor mine burial. The MBR uses the case of an old mine that has three rings of light sensors attached. As the mine buries, the light sensors become covered and it is possible to tell how deeply the mine penetrated the seafloor.

What an experience!

Deploying the sidescan sonar from the R/V Planet.

The Mine Burial Recorder (MBR) developed by FWG – Kiel.

Just by looking at the cores and feeling the mud we can identify boundary and redox layers as well as differences in grain size. But to find out more, we take samples of these cores for future analysis.

If you like getting muddy, then you’ll love sediment work! To sub-sample these cores we remove a tube filled with sediment from the MUC and place it on a stand. Once the core is on the stand we can move it down centimeter-by-centimeter revealing 1 cm of sediment at a time and scraping it off. For the first few really wet centimeters we put the sub-samples in a glass jar. After that we fill syringes with sediment every few centimeters until we get to the end of the core. Since we’re dealing with mud, and not water, we have to cut the tip off the syringe and then push it into the sediment core to get our sub-sample. Once we’ve taken these sub-samples we can look at things like nitrogen isotopes, sediment grain size, and multiple other parameters. Ultimately, this information from the sediment helps us reveal a little bit more about what’s happening in the ocean above, both today and in the past.

An empty MUC on the ship before deployment

The MUC coming up!

Cores filled with sediment

Tip-less syringe to be filled with sediment

Putting the core on to the core stand

Sampling the first few muddy centimeters

Sampling with the tip-less syringe

All of these instruments make in-situ measurements. But sometimes there is no instrument capable of measuring the quantity we are interested in (radioactive isotopes concentration, bacterial analysis, etc). That is why we use Niskin bottles to take water samples. They are tied open in the wet lab and then remotely triggered to seal shut and trap water at a given depth. But you have to make sure you fire these bottles on the way up! If a bottle is sealed on the way down, the extra pressure at depth, compared to the pressure of the sampled water, is going to crush the bottle. While on the way up, the extra pressure of the trapped water can be released without contaminating the water sample.

Once the rosette is back on deck, we transfer the required volume of water into labeled bottles for future processing in the laboratory.

In July 2012, I had the opportunity to conduct fieldwork in Grand Passage, Nova Scotia. This tidal channel lies between Brier Island and Long Island, along the Digby Neck, and is proposed for in-stream tidal turbine development. We collected acoustic measurements from a bottom-mounted frame with a hydrophone on it.

The greatest moment of suspense every day was when we had to recover the frame. This could only occur during the short time window of low slack tide, as the currents were too great to safely recover at any other time. To recover, an on-board instrument sent an acoustic command to the releases on the frame, and this initiated electrolytic erosion on a hoop of metal. The corrosion of the metal hoop set loose a bungee chord that held down a buoy, causing the buoy and line to float to the surface, and allowing for the frame to be hauled up. However, the buoy may not always surface; signals may not be have been effectively received, the batteries on the releases may have died, or shell hash could have lodged the buoy.

If the frame was not successfully recovered, there could have be delays in field plans, we would have had to hire SCUBA divers to manually release the buoy, or, in the worst case, we could have lost our expensive hydrophones (oh no!). It was always a great relief when the yellow buoy was spotted!

Moment of suspense while we wait for the buoy to surface