Activities
| Meet
the Crew! | Cruise Updates
Click here to see the photos of the actual crew !
Thanks to all who shared the "live" experience as a virtual crew member, see who signed our guestbook!
Ms. Katy Myrick, an eighth grade science teacher from Garland Independent
School District in Garland, Texas, and Mr. Rick Ford, Head of the Science
Department at Fossil Hill Middle School in Keller Independent School District,
Keller Texas will spend six weeks cruising the waters near Guam aboard the
research vessel, Melville. Their challenge is to create middle school
curriculum, focused on earth systems, biological science, and physical science
based on this expedition. Activities will coordinate with the Texas Essential
Knowledge and Skills, and be developed in consultation with other members
of the scientific research group.
The objective of the project is to identify the mantle
component in island arc volcanism by performing an across-arc study of magmatism in the southern Mariana
Arc. The principal investigators propose to answer three key questions using
a field and laboratory study of submarine volcanoes in the Southern Seamount
Province of the Mariana Arc. 1) Is
the pattern of mantle depletion across the arc and the back-arc consistent
with sequential melting of the mantle as it moves away from the back-arc spreading
axis? 2) What is the inherent heterogeneity
of the subarc mantle at scales of 10-60 km? 3) How are melts aggregated in arcs? They will
answer these questions using a field program based on a high-resolution survey
of two portions of the Southern Seamount Province, from the arc to the back-arc,
using the Hawaii MR-1 towed vehicle; through detailed sampling of two traverses
of the Province (including lavas and volcaniclastics); through characterization
of the sampled materials petrographically and geochemically; and through interpretation
of the data to identify the roles of along axis mantle heterogeneity.
We were actually underway March 4 -April 12, 2001.
Trey Hargroove, of the UTD Scientific team, created the brief presentation to share an actual crew members view of the research cruise. Click on the titles to explore
1. The Ship
2. The Mission
b. GLass Coriing and Rock Dredging
3. Life Onboard
Discover the answers to new questions asked by Vivian Saadeh, Tanis Rahl and Jacklyn Losiata!
R. J. Stern, Chief Scientist says "Hello to Charlotte Wilson and her crew at Mesquite ISD!"
Do you know your odds in a shark fight? And can a volcano really erupt "cold"?
Find out what dangers lurk in the waters of the Pacific and how to remember the difference between latitude and longitude!
Look for something NEW under every port-hole! You'll also enjoy the pictures and video under Resource Images. Teachers will love the new "Survivors" Classroom Activity too... Don't forget to follow the adventure by reading the daily journals on the Communications page.
How deep is the Challenger Deep? Look under the Geology button to see a Melville researcher's answer to Rice Middle School's question!
THANKS
for cruising with us! Here are replies to some recent guest book and
email questions. Be sure to ask your
questions while the cruise is underway and the actual crew can investigate
the answers aboard the R/V Melville!
Ed
Triplett - R/V stands
for research vessel. There is also M/V which is a motor vessel, and
an SS which is a steam ship, and USS is United States Service
(the Navy). I made the mistake of searching for the USS Melville and found
an old WWII destroyer. When it started listing all the guns on board, I
began to get worried...
Susan Hardick - We made it to the ship fine, and we are working hard. Right now we are working on a mapping activity. We have many more planned. Something on the Thermocline... Fuel consumption on the ship... plankton, etc... Watch for pictures on the web soon!
Greg
Platt - No life forms found
so far; just lots of images of the ocean floor.
Joyce - How nice to hear from you! Can you believe it? I am just NE of Guam (actually near Tinian today) mapping the ocean floor. It is an incredible experience for a Central Texas country boy...Ý We are hoping to have lots of stuff on the website as soon as we can get it sent from here to Dallas. Keep checking it. Thanks for the note, Rick
Brian
Riggs - Great to hear from
you! Tell everyone else hi for me. I got my sea legs fairly quickly. In
fact about the only problem I had was that the medicine made me sick. (Ask
Jon Ball what he put in it.) As soon as the meds wore off, I have been fine.
The sea has been calm the whole time. 4 - 6 ft swells I would guess. There
was one afternoon that a little storm blew up and we had 8 - 10 ft swells,
but even that was not too bad for a ship this size. I know it won't always
be this nice. I figure there will come a day when we will have to rough
it. So far, we haven't had that, though.
Keep checking the website, and thanks again for writing. Tell everyone
else its okay to post stuff on the site, and I will answer as soon as possible.
See you, Rick
This website is maintained
by the Science/Mathematics
Education Department at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Your
questions/comments/suggestions are appreciated!
|
Science & Technology Homer Montgomery, Ph.D. |
Educational Outreach Cynthia E. Ledbetter, Ph.D. |
Virtual Field Trips Rebekah K. Nix, M.A.T. |
( C ) 2001.The University of Texas at Dallas | School of Natural Science & Mathematics.