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Safety Drills posted by Denise on 08 Feb 2005 |
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At sea, safety is a key issue, especially when the surroundings unfamiliar. We often work on slippery decks. We deploy and recover instruments over the side of the ship day and night which could be dangerous if one is not careful. Upon arrival aboard the ship, we met with the Captain, and he reviewed rules and safety procedures aboard the R/V Kilo Moana. For example, one safety rule is: Closed toe shoes, a life vest and helmet are required gear anytime we are working on deck. |
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Interview with Dr. Alan Orpin posted by Denise on 07 Feb 2005 |
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Interview with Dr. Alan Orpin, a marine sedimentologist originally from New Zealand, born in Whangarei, Northland, which is top of the North Island north of Auckland. He is Currently on a Visiting Research Fellowship at the Geological Survey of Canada Atlantic. His previous FRST postdoc with NIWA (Wellington, NZ) studied the Poverty Bay slope, the seaward extension of the very muddy Waipaoa Sedimentary System. |
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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!
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