Day two, part two.

As Brad mentioned previously, things are settling in a bit in many ways (mostly in our work/eat/sleep routine), but we're also coming upon some interesting geomorphology: Inactive spreading ridges.  At the moment, we're transiting between the Rosanna and Rosa ridges - two in a system of seven en-echelon ridge/transform zones off the coast of Baja California Sur.  We are, as I write, recording the magnetic field associated with the oceanic crust, which, when combined with precise laboratory dating of rock specimens, tells us about the history of such ridges.   Previous studies have found that these ridges were active producing new oceanic crust from approximately 12 to 6 million years ago, and are interpreted as excellent evidence of microplate capture, a theory which helps explain, for example, the development of the San Andreas fault hundreds of kilometers away. 

Andy

Day One.

August 11, 2011

Many of the students slept on board last night, and mustered at 6:30 for passport collection, breakfast, and safety training.  After the ship's horn sounded in our ears, we knew we were on our way.  It didn't take long for the ship to begin pitching, rolling, and heaving (ship terms... no big deal), but fortunately the seas are remaining calm.  Our course is constantly changing (a few degrees here or there) as Dr. Lonsdale decides what is, and perhaps more importantly, what could be worth exploring; we've made great progress on a journey to Panama.


Here's a reduced sample of some of the data we're collecting: High resolution seafloor soundings along our course.