Ship Operations - R/V Roger Revelle

University Of California-San Diego Scripps Inst Of Oceanography, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

R/V Revelle will be operating in the Indian Ocean at the beginning of 2012 in support of the DYNAMO project, a joint NOAA ? NSF effort, and a Biological Oceanography project studying coccolithopohores. The ship will then support Navy work until July, at which time she will transit to Western Samoa to conduct work in support of NOAA and NSF. Two of these projects, NOAA Vents Program under PI Embley, and its ancillary NSF component with PI Tebo, will use the German ROV Quest. The final project of 2012 for R/V Revelle has sufficient flexibility such that it could end in Hawaii or Guam, depending on the needs in early 2013. A the time of award, the schedule had the year ending in Hawaii. R/V Revelle is well suited to support these programs in terms of equipment and experience with ROV operations. This award represents year one of a five year cooperative agreement. Intellectual Merit: The intellectual merit of the proposed work is indirect. It derives from the individual research projects that depend upon the shipboard work at sea. NSF-funded scientific investigations for 2012 operations include: biological responses to climate change and ocean acidification; Ocean circulation and heat distribution; and hydrothermal vent geology, chemistry and extremeophile biology. Broader Impacts: The mission of R/V Revelle includes the provision of educational opportunities both to students of the marine sciences, and, through educational outreach. R/V Revelle operations also contribute significantly to a wide diversity of scientific disciplines, the data from which benefit oceanographic research beyond those studies directly funded to participate in cruises.