The JANUS database and upload application were fully implemented for the first time during Leg 172. Although there are still numerous problems that must be fixed, overall it was a success and well accepted by the science party.
Transit Activities
Navigational data were collected on all transits using global positioning system (GPS). Differential
GPS was available for the Blake-Bahama Outer Ridge and Carolina Slope sites but was lost for the
Bermuda Rise sites and the transit to Lisbon. Bathymetric data was collected on all transits except
for the last seven days of the transit to Lisbon. Magnetic data was collected only on the Lisbon
transit.
All sites were located by seismic survey using a Generator-Injector (GI) water gun and our single channel streamer. The multichannel streamers were tested on all surveys but due to technical problems in the amplifier, only one survey collected any usable data.
Chemistry Lab
High-resolution interstitial water (IW) sampling, consisting of one IW sample per section for the
first 60 m, then one per core for the remainder of the hole, resulted in more than 400 analyses.
Interstitial water shipboard analysis included refractometric analysis for salinity; titration for phm,
alkalinity, and chloride; 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 Fe, Mn, and Sr in pore waters.
Computer Service
The JANUS database was fully implemented this leg and the old 1032S database and associated
programs were not used. Two programmers from the ODP Information Service Group sailed to
provide additional support to the science party, fix problems with JANUS, and develop application
data query tools for the JANUS database.
JANUS was well received by the scientists on the ship. Yet, there is still a great deal of fine-tuning needed in the areas of server performance, upload, and data query applications. Regardless of the problems that remain with JANUS, its use on Leg 172 should be considered a success.
The latest version of Applecore, version 0.7.5b, was received in port. It has a few bugs that need to be repaired and the users turned in quite a list of suggested improvements.
Programs revised during Leg 172:
€ MAD: Moisture and Density - program was modified to further address JANUS data upload
problems.
€Coulometer: Hybrid weighing/instrumentation program that allows the chemists to weigh
samples, run them through the coulometer, and upload them to JANUS.
€RAP: Report Activation Program - gives the general user a menu driven interface to our
Business Objects reports.
€JRS: JANUS Repository Sampling - Underwent work to enable corelog cross checking.
Designed to be used exclusively by Curators and System Managers to complement the JANUS
Sample screens as a troubleshooting/repair tool.
€JANUS Web: Web interface to our Oracle database to give the scientists another way to obtain
all types of leg sample information.
€Curation: Many of the Business Object reports were reworked so they represent what the
curators wanted.
Programs written during Leg 172:
€C1_C2: LabVIEW program designed to replace OPSGAS.
€HRLABELS: LabVIEW program designed to print miniature labels for hard rock legs.
€MSTV: LabVIEW program designed to display MST information in a graphical format in
near real time for the sedimentologists.
€Tensor Tool: Neuron Data interface to the JANUS database designed to upload and change
tensor data.
€IMP_CARB: Associated with the Coulometer program. It downloads the sample information
from the database so that a barcode scanner is not required at that instrument.
€IMP_MAD: Associated with the MAD program. It is a tool for reconstructing the MAD
sample database. It downloads all the sample information and the beaker numbers from the
moisture density tables in JANUS.
New equipment installed:
€Five 200MHZ PCs, Digital Equipment 200i.
€One HP 5M+ laser printer
€One HP 1600CM color printer
€12 Sony monitors