166 Preliminary Report
TECHNICAL REPORT
The ODP Technical and Logistics personnel aboard JOIDES Resolution for Leg 166 were:
Miriam Andres - Marine Lab Specialist (Temporary)
Tim Bronk - Marine Lab Specialist (Chemistry)
Brad Cook - Marine Lab Specialist (Photographer)
Sandy Dillard - Marine Lab Specialist (Storekeeper)
Cesar Flores - Marine Computer Specialist (System Manager)
Margaret Hastedt - Assistant Lab Officer (Paleomagnetics)
Kuro Kuroki - Assistant Lab Officer
Monty Lawyer - Marine Lab Specialist (Underway Geophysics)
Jaque Ledbetter - Marine Lab Specialist (X-Ray)
Greg Lovelace - Marine Lab Specialist (Physical Properties)
Erinn McCarty - Marine Lab Specialist (Curator)
Bill Mills - Laboratory Officer
Chris Nugent - Marine Lab Specialist (Downhole Tools)
Anne Pimmel - Marine Lab Specialist (Chemistry)
Jo Ribbens - Marine Lab Specialist (Yeoman)
Bill Stevens - Marine Electronics Specialist
Mark Watson - Marine Electronics Specialist
Barry Weber - Marine Computer Specialist (System Manager)
GENERAL LEG INFORMATION
The JOIDES Resolution docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on 17 February 1996, ending Leg 165. The following morning the Leg 166 crew arrived and began crossovers and other logistic activities.
On the 20th of February at 1700 hr, we cast off lines and were under way to our first site with a crew of 110 (48 scientists and technicians). Our transit was uneventful and the time was effectively used for classes, completing unfinished port call activities, and preparing the labs for core analysis. In the afternoon of 23 February, an extensive site survey was completed for Sites 1003, 1004, 1005, and 1007. That same evening Hole 1003A was spudded.
During the leg we received two helicopter visits. The first visit arrived on 26 February with a film crew from New Dominion. The filming was organized by ODP's Public Relations Officer Aaron Woods. In addition, Eric Shultz, of the Borehole Research Group, arrived on the helicopter to continue repairs to the logging heave compensator. The second helicopter arrived on the 21st of March with the Public Relations Officer from Rosentiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), University of Miami and a local news crew.
Drilling operations were completed on the 5 April. After a 5-day transit, the JOIDES Resolution crossed the Panama Canal and docked in Balboa, Panama on the 10 April 1996, ending the scientific portion of Leg 166.
On 11 April the science party departed, and the Leg 166 technicians began logistic activities including off-loading core and loading Leg 167 supplies. Twenty-two new crew members boarded to work on various projects during the transit to Acapulco.
On the 13 April at 1715 hr, we cast off lines and were under way to Acapulco. Leg 166T ended on the 19th of April at 0800 when the ship arrived in Acapulco for a total of 60 days at sea.
LAB ACTIVITIES OVERVIEW
Although over five kilometers of sediment were cored, recovery (55.3%) kept core lab activities at a moderate pace. High-resolution water sampling, XRD analysis, and temperature measurements kept the chemistry, x-ray, and downhole labs busy.
High concentrations of H2S (40-2700+ ppm) were encountered at almost all sites. Core lab H2S precautions were instituted per ODP Technical Note 10. Breathing apparatus were worn as necessary while processing cores. Most cores were degassed to the outside (Sites 1004 and 1005) by using two portable exhaust fans ducted through the passive air vent in the splitting room.
CHEMISTRY LAB
Interstitial water shipboard analysis on Leg 166 included refractometric analysis for salinity; titrations for pmH, alkalinity, chloride, and fluoride; ion chromatography for sulfate, potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium; and colorimetric analyses for silica, phosphate, and ammonium. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry was used to quantify concentrations of Li, Sr, and Fe in pore waters. Solid core samples were analyzed for inorganic and total carbon analysis (using the coulometer and the CNS). Based on their organic carbon content, some samples were selected and analyzed with the Rock Eval. The system was used to determine S1, S2, S3, S4, and TOC. Gas chromatograph (GC) 3 and the natural gas analyzer (NGA) were used to provide real-time monitoring of the volatile hydrocarbons. GC2 was used to conduct analyses of high-molecular-weight hydrocarbons and long-chain alkenones.
COMPUTERS
This leg was marked by development of the JANUS project and the amount of self-training. Along the way we created a standard JANUS installation for the PCs and Macs and added ten more Pentiums to the ship environment. One of these Pentiums was set up as a Netware 4.1 file server and installed in the equipment room. This allowed us to decommission the Novel server "novserv1." During the leg, we configured the accounts on both Hudson and Byrd for the JANUS project. This was done so the environment would be similar to the Sun network. To accomplish this, we edited the login scripts, moved the user directory to /home, and set up the uid's.
CORE LAB
All the parts for the Super Saw and the Felker Saws were organized and inventoried. The bearings were changed at the beginning of the leg. The new rods and bearings brought to the ship to be installed could not be adapted to the present structure. The Minolta spectrophotometer was mounted on a track for instrument support during measurements. Future improvements will provide automatic sample position. New catwalk boxes are in the process of being designed and built, as are new liner cutters.
CURATION
Most of the deep holes drilled during this leg recovered consolidated sediments. Recovery ranged from long, continuous sections of unbroken core to small, round rollers. No shipboard PMAG samples were taken. Instead, discrete PMAG samples were taken for one of the scientists at a sampling frequency of one to two samples per section. Some of these samples were used for shipboard susceptibility measurements. All PMAG cubes will go back to Don McNeill's lab for further analyses.
DOWNHOLE MEASUREMENTS LAB
Downhole measurements conducted 87 temperature runs, setting a new record for the lab. The Adara temperature tool was run 57 times. The 30-inch WSTP tool, for temperature measurement only, was deployed 30 times. A physical inventory count was performed midway through the leg.
Because of the increase to four digit site numbers, the DCDL program has been changed. The DCDL program makes the file name out of the information entered, and because a PC won't take any file name over eight digits, listing the full site number with temperature range caused problems. To make room for the longer site numbers, the temperature range was dropped from the file name.
PALEOMAGNETICS LAB
The lab ran a total of 300 cores at various demag levels for a grand total of 1476 runs. Many discrete samples were taken for post-cruise research, and approximately 30 were measured on the spinner (mostly IRM-saturation tests). This was a difficult leg for the cryogenic magnetometer. The intensities of the carbonates were low to non-existent (generally well below 1 mA/m on the pass-through data), and most pass-through measurements were deemed of dubious value to magnetostratigraphy. Unfortunately, the new spinners couldn't measure the carbonates either. Both scientists were resigned to running the core samples when they returned to their own labs. The tensor tools oriented a total of 78 cores from 8 holes at five sites. We finally got a chance on this leg to attempt to orient the first APC core. It worked fine, although there is some pipe movement in the azimuth and inclination data, as well as somewhat higher standard deviations on the MTF results.
PALEONTOLOGY/MICROSCOPE LAB
The Leg 166 shipboard scientific party included four paleontologists; three foraminifer specialists and one nannofossil specialist, and they analyzed over 600 samples. The scientists indicated that the lab facilities and supplies were satisfactory overall. One scientist who had sailed some years previously said that the lab was "much improved" and that he was "very happy" with everything. There were no problems with any of the equipment.
In the Paleo lab, the Axiophot, both SV-11's and an SV-8 were used. In the Core lab both photoscopes were used, as were two SV-8's. No photomicrographs were taken, and everything ran smoothly during the entire cruise.
PHOTO LAB
Work was routine with a few equipment problems. The developer replenishment solenoid was replaced, and a new temperature control monitor was installed on the E6 processor. The silk screen procedure was eliminated this cruise. A new system based on a thermal wax/dye sublimation printer was installed. The new system prints out a copy of the winning logo onto an iron-on transfer sheet. This new method will save the photographer a great many headaches, not to mention time. During the transit the new Digital Imaging System was installed for use on Leg 167.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES LAB
In the Physical properties lab we measured 1630 sections of core on the MST, 350 Thermal Conductivity measurements, 6412 discrete velocity measurements, 700 sheer strength measurements, and 1444 moisture/density determinations. All lab equipment performed well with few problems.
During the transit we test-fitted the new MST track hardware, took final measurements and reinstalled the old track. The final installation of the new MST track is now scheduled for Leg 169. Also, the new Moisture and Density software was tested during the transit.
UNDERWAY and FANTAIL
A seismic survey over Sites 1003, 1004, 1005, and 1007 was performed using the 80-in3 air gun. Five VSP experiments were performed on this leg using the 120-in3 air gun. No problems occurred during any of the experiments.
All the gun parts have been inventoried and the drawers organized. The water line to the fantail was replaced, and we now have good water pressure at this locality.
X-RAY LAB
During Leg 166, 1100 mineral samples of lithified and unlithified carbonate sediments were submitted for bulk analysis by x-ray diffraction. Thirty-seven lithified and unlithified carbonate sediment samples were analyzed with the XRF for percentages of five major element oxides (CaO, Fe2O3, MnO, P2O5, and TiO2).
TRANSIT ACTIVITIES (166T) OVERVIEW
Five additional Tracor employees as well as four members of the JANUS Steering Committee joined the ship in Panama to continue work on the JANUS database. Daily meetings were held with Marine Specialists to discuss user group issues and answer Tracor questions.
TRANSIT PROJECT SUMMARY
€ Completed a magnetic survey of coring equipment. Data from these measurements will be used to better understand the cause of magnetic over-printing of sediment during the coring process.
€ Trained technicians in water-gun maintenance and thin-section preparation.
€ Inventoried and organized library books and office files.
€ Completed physical counts of the major storage areas.
€ Installed a new version of HP ChemStation.
€ Continued training of new photographer and chemist.
€ Installed DCS heave compensator cabling in derrick.
€ Completed shipboard GFE inventory.
€ Set up the Oregon State's color-reflectance track and the ODP core-video system for Leg 167.
€ Installed and tested the new Moisture and Density software and hardware. Further revisions to the software will be necessary before shipboard implementation can proceed.
€ Tested new GRAPE calibration procedures.
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED SUMMARY
€ The slow learning curve with WinFrog continues. This leg we found that having a space in a directory name would cause WinFrog to crash anytime the waypoint data was accessed during a survey.
€ Green chemical stains were found on core boxes during the San Juan port call. A leak in the photo lab plumbing was suspected but no telltale drips could be found. Towards the end of the leg the stains reappeared and the leak located. Ships engineers patched a section of the drain with rubber hose but suspect further damage and advise that all copper lines be removed and replaced with pvc in the near future.
€ The XRF spectrometer chamber lid and motor where damaged early in the leg. Parts from several "used-but-good" spares were used to build a new motor and lid.
€ The new rods and bearings that were brought out to be installed on the super saw could not be adapted to the present structure. The support structure is too warped for the tolerances allowed by the new type of bearings. Plans for a new support base will be developed on shore.
Leg 166 Laboratory Statistics
General
Sites: 7
Holes: 16
Meters Drilled: 2149.3 m
Meters Cored: 5303.1 m
Meters Recovered: 2933.8 m
Number of samples:
General Samples: 27,553
Chemistry Samples: 1,866
Lab Analysis:
Magnetics Lab:
Cryomagnetometer: 1476 sections
Discrete Measurements: 30
Oriented cores: 78
Physical Properties:
MST: 630 sections
Discrete Velocity: 6412
Strength: 700
Thermal Conductivity: 350
Moisture/Density: 1443
Chemistry:
Rock Eval: 62
Water Chemistry: 260
Head Space: 470
Inorganic Carbonate: 763
Carbon Nitrogen Sulfur: 350
X-ray:
XRF: 37
XRD: 1100
Downhole:
Adara: 57
WSTP (temp. only): 30
Thin Sections: 52
Underway Geophysics:
Total Transit 3473 nmi
Bathymetry: 887 nmi
Magnetics: 887 nmi
Seismic 30 nmi
VSP: 5 sites
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