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Investigating the RV Investigator’s Investigators.
“Science as a Human Endeavour”
RV Investigator is Australia’s dedicated ocean research vessel that provides researchers with the capability to collect important data from anywhere across Australia’s vast marine estate and beyond – from the deep ocean to the atmosphere above. Everywhere the Investigator goes it maps the topography of the sea floor and collects oceanographic and atmospheric data. Researchers from all over Australia and the world conduct research on the ship. Each voyage has a unique team of researchers and a different focus. On the first voyage of 2020, which is researching the plate tectonic rifting, breakup, and separation between Australia and Antarctica, we asked the participants to tell us their story. Despite coming from all walks of life they each had two things in common, curiosity and a desire to keep on learning.
RV Investigator voyage IN2020_V01.
Main Objectives
- • Gain important new knowledge of the rifting, breakup, and initial separation of tectonic plates in the Southern Ocean between Australia and Antarctica and in particular the separated submarine Kerguelen Plateau and Broken Ridge in the southern Indian Ocean
- • Acquire, analyse, and interpret data and samples necessary for Australia to make a new or revised submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.
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Investigating the RV Investigator’s Investigators.
“Science as a Human Endeavour”
The RV Investigator is Australia’s 94-metre ocean research vessel. It performs the major role of data collection within Australia’s National Marine Research capabilities. Everywhere the Investigator goes it maps the sea floor. Researchers from all over Australia and indeed the world conduct research on the ship. Each voyage has a new team of researchers and every voyage has a different focus. On the last voyage of 2019 we asked a few of them to tell us their story. There were quite a few surprises but they all had two things in common, curiosity and a desire to keep on learning.
Microplastics
Research
Plastic is everywhere you look. Plastic
bottles, plastic cups, plastic bags. If you look around you now you will see
lots of plastic items. Plastic waste is a huge problem. Much of our waste
plastic ends up in the ocean. Here it can tangle and choke marine life or be
mistaken by animals as food. Large numbers of birds continue to die by eating
plastic and feeding their young with small bits of plastic in the belief that
it is food.
Most plastics in the ocean break up into
very small particles. These small plastic bits are called
"microplastics." Are small bits of plastic a problem? Well here on the Investigator, research being
conducted by scientists such as Elise Tuuri is helping us understand the
potential problem of microplastics.
Occupation: PhD Candidate Fields: Marine Science Organization: Flinders University Enjoys: Being in the water
I grew up on the South Coast of South Australia
spending my free time at the beach. Combining my passion for the Ocean and STEM
led to me pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Biology and
Aquaculture. The experiences I have had have made me passionate about education
and science communication in the Marine Sciences realm.
I am the onboard Principal Investigator for the microplastics project.
We’re interested in finding out a more accurate representation of the quantity
of plastics in our waters and the impact it has on the food chain. |
Quick
Facts
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Fragments of plastic can be found in almost every
cubic meter of sea water
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Some plankton can mistake plastic for food.
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Dolphins have names for each of their pod members.
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If tomato is a fruit, then why isn’t tomato sauce a smoothie?
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For more information;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics
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Occupation: Oceanographer Fields: Coastal oceanography, tides, numerical modeling Organization: Adjunct at Flinders University and South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) Enjoys: Messing about in small boats
For much of my career I have led a double
life, one as a conventional oceanographer, working for various institutes and
universities in Sydney, Adelaide, and Townsville, and one as an independent
scientific consultant. In the latter role, I most recently spent much of the
past two years advising the legal team representing a group of Indonesian
aquaculture farmers who claimed to have suffered major losses as a result of an
oil spill. On the Investigator I am part of a team investigating the
distribution of microplastics on the Australian continental shelf.
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Quick
Facts
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Even though microplastics are tiny, they may take
thousands of years to break down completely.
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Microplastics
pervade our food and water supply. At present there is no real way to remove
them but we hope that understanding their distribution will help lead to a
solution.
For more information;
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html
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Occupation: unpaid, enthusiastic, still researching, retired oceanographer Fields: Ocean currents and water properties Organization: Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia Enjoys: Cracking waves on his surfski and and motorbiking in Antarctica
I have had a fantastic journey via the vocation of research. I have
wintered and ridden motorbikes in Antarctica in the 1960’s and have worked all
around the world since then. I have an insatiable curiosity about the sea and I
grab every opportunity to be involved in research. My role on this voyage is to
interpret physical oceanographic data in
support of Elise Tuuri’s studies of the microplastics, bacteria, and zooplankton and filtering LOTS of water. |
Quick
Facts
·
I have studied the aurora in
Antarctica and
Alaska and made a 300km journey by tractor train across Antarctica in 1960
·
Took a motorbike to
Antarctica (pre the
invention of OH&S.
·
Studies included EAC and its
eddies and the
Leeuwin Current
For more information;
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/George_Cresswell
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Investigating
the RV Investigator’s Investigators.
“Science as a Human Endeavour”
The RV Investigator
is Australia’s 94-metre ocean research vessel. It performs the major role of
data collection within Australia’s National Marine Research capabilities. Everywhere
the Investigator goes it maps the sea floor. Researchers from all over
Australia and indeed the world conduct research on the ship. Each voyage has a
new team of researchers and every voyage has a different focus. On the last
voyage of 2019 we asked a few of them to tell us their story. There were quite
a few surprises but they all had two things in common, curiosity and a desire
to keep on learning.
The Storm Chasers
Dr. Alain Protat - Chief Thunder Radar Occupation: Senior Principal Research Scientist Fields: Radar meteorology Organisation: Australian Bureau of Meteorology Enjoys: Connecting Scientists and Listening to my kids play music I was born in France and have a lovely wife and three kids (16, 14, and 12). I moved to Australia in 2007 to work at BOM (Bureau of Meteorology). I lead the "Radar Science and Nowcasting" Team at BOM. I use radars at different frequencies and on different platforms (ground, ship, aircraft, satellite) to better understand cloud and convection (storm) processes. On this voyage I am the chief scientist, which means I have the biggest cabin but also a lot of responsibility. |
Quick
Facts
·
The dual polarising radar on the Investigator is one
of the most advanced available and is used to help calibrate land based radars.
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After all these years doing radar research, I am
still passionate about my job, probably even more than before.
For more information;
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Occupation: Research Scientist Fields: Weather Radar and Thunderstorm Science Organisation: Australian Bureau of Meteorology Enjoys: Chasing storms, building new research sensors, surfing and spot of gardening Growing up in stormy Southeast Queensland I was always perplexed why the thunderstorms split and went around my parents home. A couple decades later with a PhD, I still have more questions than answers whenever I see a storm. Working on the RVI is part of my new position at the Bureau of Meteorology. I support Alain Protat’s meteorology team launching radiosondes, operating the weather radar, developing software, storm chasing with the RVI and arranging movie nights. Hopefully the first trip of many. |
Quick Facts
For more information;
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Occupation: PostDoctorate Fellow Fields: Climate modelling Organisation: Monash University Enjoys: Hiking, Yoga, Cycling My main focus is on Monsoon modeling. Weather observation runs in my family. My dad and my dad’s dad were all weather forecasters. At first I didn’t want to be a weather forecaster but wanted to do something different but after my first year at Uni I thought “Maybe I like it”. Christmas in Darwin is often the time for monsoons but they are notoriously fickle and I am collecting data to improve our models. The opportunity to work on this project on the Investigator is a fantastic experience |
Quick
Facts
·
The word “monsoon” comes from the Arabic word for
season.
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Monsoon refers to the rainy phase of a seasonally
changing pattern, although technically there is also a dry phase.
For more information;
https://climateextremes.org.au/member-profile/?memberID=48
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The RV Investigator encounters a significant storm at sea with winds approaching 70 knots and the Storm Chasers are out on. Watch this video to get an idea of what conditions can be like out on the Southern Ocean in December (summer time). Video taken and narrated by D. Dieckfoss.
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Sub Antarctic Hotspots and Microcontinents!
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Photo by D Dieckfoss |
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| Professor Mike Coffin. Photo by D. Dieckfoss |
The Australian Marine
National Facility RV Investigator is currently en route to the Kerguelen Plateau deep in the Southern Ocean to study
tectonics, hotspots, microcontinents, and magmatism. Australia and Antarctica were once joined where
“The Great Australian Bight” is now, but rifted and drifted apart by a process
called plate tectonics. Professor Mike
Coffin and his team of 23 researchers
and students will be using the RV Investigator’s
advanced geoscience and mapping capabilities to conduct the first ever case
study of the separation of two ocean plateau end members, the Kerguelen Plateau
and Broken Ridge, in the Southern Ocean. This could lead to a significant extension of Australia’s marine jurisdiction in the Southern Ocean.
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Weekly Report #1 (6-12 January 2020) – IN2020_V01
– Chief
Scientist Prof Mike Coffin
RV Investigator
voyage IN2020_V01 – Development of William’s Ridge, Kerguelen Plateau: tectonics,
hotspot magmatism, microcontinents, and Australia’s Extended Continental Shelf
– departed Henderson, Western Australia, on Friday 10 January, bound for
the Heard Island region, southern Indian Ocean, on a 57-day mission. The
overarching objectives of the voyage are to:
• gain
important new knowledge of the rifting, breakup, and initial separation of
tectonic plates. The project constitutes the first-ever case study of conjugate
oceanic plateau end-members – the formerly contiguous and subaerial, but now
separated and submarine Kerguelen Plateau and Broken Ridge in the southern
Indian Ocean – to investigate these phenomena.
• acquire,
analyse, and interpret data and samples necessary for Australia to make a new
or revised submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental
Shelf (CLCS). The purpose is to extend Australia’s marine jurisdiction to
include William’s Ridge, an extension of the Central Kerguelen Plateau, under
the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
In addition, we will undertake a supplementary project to
determine the timing of the most recent collapse of the West Antarctic Ice
Sheet.
I first had the idea for the primary investigation in 2015,
and in the intervening five years, my colleagues and I have assembled a
multi-disciplinary, international team of researchers and students, submitted
multiple applications to various agencies and authorities for support and
permissions, been granted ship time and science funding, and obtained requisite
environmental permits. Thus the voyage is the culmination of considerable
effort and planning involving scores of people from around the world.
The entire shipboard science and science support team first
assembled 6-10 January for mobilization of the voyage at BAE Henderson Port, Western
Australia, where RV Investigator was
berthed. Mobilization activities were nonstop and intense for four days,
mirroring the enthusiasm and anticipation of all voyage participants.
We number 56 souls on this voyage. That total includes 23
members of the science party, 11 science support staff, two medical specialists,
and 20 ship’s crew. The 34-strong research team is a veritable United Nations,
with 11 nationalities from four continents represented. This diversity reflects
our efforts to assemble the best scientific team globally to achieve our
research objectives as well as the boundless nature of the global ocean.
We embarked from Henderson at 0830 Friday 10 January and
commenced the long transit to the Heard Island region. During the first three
days of the transit, we’ve been acquiring multibeam sonar, backscatter, sub-bottom
profiler, water-column acoustic, magnetics, and gravity data continuously.
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| University of Tasmania undergraduate student Sylvie King and the SOCCOM float Mud Skipper that she illustrated. Credit: David Dieckfoss. |
We
have also launched one robotic float, Mud Skipper (adopted and named by
students from the College of Coastal Georgia, USA), for the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and
Modeling (SOCCOM) project.
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| SOCCOM float being deployed by RV Investigator crew members. Credit: David Dieckfoss. |
The sea state has been benevolent, facilitating development of our sea legs. We
anticipate arriving at our first intensive study area, William’s Ridge, on 19
or 20 January, depending on weather conditions and equipment testing. And here is the video of the Mudskipper deployment provided by Hugh Barker!
Thank you Ms Sylvie King for drawing a picture for us! The students at College of Coastal Georgia and I are truly excited to see this happen! THANK YOU!
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