Sea Trials Transit

Daily Science Report for 24 February 2009

LOCATION: Southeast of Arno Atoll, Marshall Islands, en route to Honolulu, Hawaii

SCIENCE UPDATE: Readiness assessment and acceptance testing activities continue. Analyses of core samples from Site 320T-U1330 are ongoing. Scientists are preparing presentations for the end of site science meeting, and writing summaries and chapters for the various expedition reports. Performance documentation and analysis of the suite of logging data collected at Hole U1330A continue.

See detailed transit map

Ship highlight of the day: Microbiology Lab

The Microbiology laboratory enables microbiologists to investigate the deep biosphere. The laboratory contains an anaerobic chamber and equipment for taking uncontaminated samples from the cores, a laminar flow hood for preparing uncontaminated samples for study, and facilities for incubating samples. The Chemistry/Microbiology Labs were expanded by 21%.

See iodp.tamu.edu/labs/ship.html for more details on the ship's new laboratories.