 | Marine organisms in the Santa Barbara Basin |
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Latitude N 33 47.944 Longitude W 118 38.852A close look shows where the D-ESP was stationed on top of the mound |
From MBARI - http://www.mbari.org/expeditions/Southern10/index.htm
Marine organisms in the Santa Barbara Basin. The objective is to learn more about the oxygen levels in the water and where marine organisms live in relation to those levels. We will be collecting water samples to measure oxygen, temperature, and salinity levels. We will also be conducting laser Raman studies of pore-water chemistry in the sediments on an asphalt volcano in the Santa Barbara Basin and at active methane gas venting sites and seafloor mounds in the Santa Monica basin. Our laser Raman spectrometer bounces a specially tuned laser beam off of almost any object or substancesolid, liquid, or gasproviding information about that object''s chemical composition and molecular structure. This is a much better method for measuring the chemistry of the water in the sediments than collecting a push core, which requires bringing the sediments to the surface, squeezing out the water and then analyzing the chemistry. We will also be conducting preliminary exploratory observations of the seafloor inside the Santa Cruz basin.