Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute NEWSLETTER JAN 1, 2006 The Coastal Program comprises a variety of projects in Mississippi’s coastal estuaries, beach and near shore marine environments. Work in the offshore areas (such as on-going gas hydrate research) is the responsibility of MMRI’s Center for Marine Research and Environmental Technology (CMRET). The MMRI has a number of tools for research in the coastal zone including boats, various types of geophysical gear, and bottom sampling equipment. Past work has addressed environmental issues such as bottom sampling for industry and government in order to evaluate potential contamination, characterization of bottom and shallow sub-bottom conditions prior to dredging or construction work, and pure research. The Coastal Program has completed projects along the entire Mississippi coast. Several projects have been cooperative efforts with other universities, particularly the University of Southern Mississippi and its Gulf Coast Research Lab (GCRL) in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. In one such project, completed in 2004, the MMRI assisted the GCRL in characterizing near shore sediments to help determine sedimentation rates. The MMRI provided a shallow stratigraphic framework for the study and obtained lithologic samples for further analysis. Earlier studies such as this, provide useful base line information to to compare with the present post-Kartrina environment. Follow this link to learn more about the MMRI Coastal Program. Scientific and technical crews from the University of Mississippi, Florida State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Specialty Devices, Inc. (Plano, TX) participated in a scientific research cruise onboard the R/V Pelican, October 18-22, 2005. The cruise was designed to install and test the ultra-short base-line locating system. The system will QUARTERLY PAGE 1 Much of the equipment used in near shore and off shore research is fabricated in the MMRI shop facilities near Oxford. Here bottom sampling equipment and geophysical gear are being loaded and strapped down in preparation for transport to the Mississippi Coast. REVIEW OF RESEARCH PROGRAMS AT MMRI (Part V) MMRI/CMRET HOSTS SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH CRUISE TO MC118
Transcript
Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute
NEWSLETTER JAN 1, 2006
The Coastal Program comprises a variety of projects in Mississippi’s coastal estuaries, beach and near shore marine environments. Work in the offshore areas (such as on-going gas hydrate research) is the responsibility of MMRI’s Center for Marine Research and Environmental Technology (CMRET). The MMRI has a number of tools for research in the coastal zone including boats, various types of geophysical gear, and bottom sampling equipment. Past work has addressed environmental issues such as bottom sampling for industry and government in order to evaluate potential contamination, characterization of bottom and shallow sub-bottom conditions prior to dredging or construction work, and pure research. The Coastal Program has completed projects along the entire Mississippi coast. Several projects have been cooperative efforts with other universities, particularly the University of Southern Mississippi and its Gulf Coast Research Lab (GCRL) in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. In one such project, completed in 2004, the MMRI assisted the GCRL in characterizing near shore sediments to help determine sedimentation rates. The MMRI provided a shallow stratigraphic framework for the study and obtained lithologic samples for further analysis. Earlier studies such as this, provide useful base line information
to
to compare with the present post-Kartrina environment. Follow this link to learn more about the MMRI Coastal Program.
Scientific and technical crews from the University of Mississippi, Florida State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Specialty Devices, Inc. (Plano, TX) participated in a scientific research cruise onboard the R/V Pelican, October 18-22, 2005. The cruise was designed to install and test the ultra-short base-line locating system. The system will
QUARTERLY PAGE 1
Much of the equipment used in near shore and off shore research is fabricated in the MMRI shop facilities near Oxford. Here bottom sampling equipment and geophysical gear are being loaded and strapped down in preparation for transport to the Mississippi Coast.
REVIEW OF RESEARCHPROGRAMS AT MMRI (Part V)
MMRI/CMRET HOSTS SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH CRUISE TO MC118
will allow researchers the precision needed to locate instruments and sensors on the seafloor. In addition, researchers collected core samples from the area of the carbonate mound that occupies about 1 km of the sea floor at Mississippi Canyon 118 (MC118), the site of the sea floor observatory being emplaced by the Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Research Consortium, administered by the CMRET. Core samples were recovered from locations on and near the mound. Core sites were selected from images produced during an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV)
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Geochemists sample a core from the flank of the mound at MC118.
Coring crew recovers a gravity core from the mound at MC118.
Deployment of the ultra-shortbase-line locating system (USBL).
survey of MC118 (April 29-May 2, 2005) and from the dive logs taken during two Johnson SeaLink dives over the site in 2002. The cores were examined visually onboard for evidence of hydrates and gas, photographed, described and subsampled for further laboratory analyses by representatives of research programs supported by Consortium funding including: Minerals Management Services (Department of the Interior), the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, and the Seabed Technology Research Center (STRC), a branch of NIUST, the NOAA-funded National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology.
Thirty researchers met in Oxford, November 15-16 for the semiannual meeting of the Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Research Consortium (GOM-HRC). The group has, as its primary goal, the emplacement of the first-ever deep ocean, sea-floor monitoring station in the Gulf of Mexico to monitor the gas hydrate stability zone. The emphasis of the meeting of geochemists, microbiologists, geologists, geophysicists, engineers, oceanographers, computer software designers and data systems management experts was to finalize the testing and deployment of geochemical sensors. These sensors will help to establish when, how often and with what magnitude changes in the hydrate
stability zone are occurring. Deployment of initial components of the station took place in May, 2005. The M/V Ocean Quest, with its two submersibles, was to have been used for deployment of additional station components in a 12-day cruise scheduled for fall, 2005. Unfortunately, the Ocean Quest, being renovated at the Gulfport shipyard, fell victim to the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. Although the ship itself did not sustain serious damage, prospects of timely repairs and completion of the renovations dwindled to hopeless and the vessel was moved to its home port, Seattle, for completion of work as resources on the Gulf coast were directed towards recovery from the storm. Additional ships and means of deployment are being sought including the use of manned and unmanned submersible vehicles. A series of cruises, each with specific tasks, is being planned to replace the use of the Ocean Quest and its submersibles. The GOM-HRC is administered by the MMRI/CMRET and is funded, jointly by (MMS, DOE-NETL, NIUST/STRC).
HOW TO CONTACT US
MMRI, 220 Old Chemistry Building University, MS 38677
