|
 |
Interview with Lew Skelton posted by Denise on 11 Feb 2005 |
 |
|
Denise: I’m talking with Chief Engineer Lew Skelton, and we are about to take a tour of the engine room. Tell me where are you from originally?
Lew: Originally from Watsonville, California, I live now in Selah, Washington in the Yakima Valley. |
|
The Night Shift posted by Ben on 11 Feb 2005 |
|
|
In all professions, you have to learn the ins and outs, take the good and the bad. I have spent the last leg coring and sampling through the sunny noon to midnight shift and now the tables have turned. I am working the graveyard shift from 7pm to 7am. The first day or so we were all a bit taken over by our internal clocks but managed to struggle through the night. I would find myself peering out the porthole of the lab, waiting for the days first light to shine, signaling the end of my shift. |
« Later 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Earlier »
 |
|
 |
View from space of ocean floor around New Zealand.
The turquoise area is a narrow strip of shallow (<2000 m) ocean also known as the continental margin. |
Although viewed by most as remote, removed, and perilous, the oceans are home to a world of deep beauty and are a great source of food and other natural resources (e.g., oil). In addition, they are a fascinating place to recreate and explore. Exploration and examination of the oceans is critical to finding new resources and learning about Earth history (and possibly the future). Furthermore, the oceans, which cover over two-thirds of the planet’s surface, are a processing factory for materials draining from land. |
| Ocean study is needed to understand how activities and events on land are processed and recorded in the sea, and this is the primary focus of our research in New Zealand. This research is funded by the Source to Sink - MARGINS program of the National Science Foundation.
Why the Waipaoa River in New Zealand?
Unlike the eastern coast of the United States (e.g., North Carolina) which has a broad coastal plain, many coastlines around the world have rugged mountains immediately next to the sea and lack bodies of water (e.g. Pamlico Sound) between rivers and the ocean. The northeast coast of New Zealand, where the Waipaoa River enters the sea, is one example. In these settings, materials from land can be rapidly transported to the ocean, and as a result sediments and dissolved material may quickly accumulate on the ocean floor and affect ocean ecosystems after river flooding. Also, the Waipaoa River discharges an incredible amount of sediment for a river its size. This is because of high rainfall in the area and its easily eroded landscape, which is made of sedimentary rocks. In fact, the Waipaoa River is more than 10 times smaller than the Potomac River but discharges 100 times more sediment!
|
|
 |
|
 |
Coordinating Institutions
|
