Opportunity to Follow Scientists on Ocean Research Ship

Opportunity for Schools to Follow Scientists on Ocean Research Ship

Schools are being invited to take part in video links with scientists on a research ship investigating the sea-floor in the North Atlantic.

Schools will be able to follow the two-month expedition online, and speak to the scientists via a ship-to-shore video link.

The two-month voyage starts on June 2, with the ocean drilling ship JOIDES Resolution leaving Bermuda and returning to St John’s, Newfoundland on Canada’s east coast, eight weeks later.

Marine microfossil scientist, Chris Hollis of GNS Science, is the only New Zealander among the crew of 32 scientists from 11 countries on the North Atlantic expedition. Dr Hollis is a specialist in radiolarians – a group of microscopic marine organisms with intricate and distinctive silicate shells.

Their skeletal remains are ubiquitous in ocean sediments and due to their rapid turnover of species, they are an important diagnostic tool to help scientists age-date ancient sediments and deduce environmental conditions millions of years ago.  

JOIDES Resolution visited New Zealand in early 2010 to collect seafloor cores off the Canterbury coast to understand sea level and climatic changes going back 30 million years. The ship is operated by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program – an international programme aimed at improving the understanding of the oceans and the earth’s physical evolution over millions of years.

During the expedition off Newfoundland, scientists will collect seabed sediment cores from several sites. They will target sediment drifts - large piles of sediment that have accumulated on the seafloor over millions of years.

Core samples from these drifts will provide excellent records of extreme climate events during a period known as the Paleogene – 20 to 65 million years ago.  

The Paleogene is of particular interest to climate scientists, as it was a time when temperatures were warmer than today, with atmospheric carbon dioxide levels similar to those predicted for the end of this century.

Dr Hollis has studied ancient climate extremes in many parts of New Zealand, and this continues to be a major focus of his research.

During the expedition, he will use his specialist knowledge of radiolarians to determine the age of the seafloor sediment recovered by the ship.

The region around Newfoundland and the oceanic area around New Zealand are both dominated by two major current systems - a deep current bringing cold water from the poles and a surface current bringing warm water from the tropics.
 
Scientists have found the interplay between these two current systems in the south Pacific seems to be critical to explaining big swings in climate from cool temperate to tropical conditions in the geological past.  

"It's important to know if this is simply a local southwest Pacific phenomenon, or if it is a general feature of global warming, and also how quickly these shifts occur and what the triggers might be," Dr Hollis said.

"Following on from this expedition, there is likely to be a strong case made for an equivalent expedition offshore eastern New Zealand.

Currently, New Zealand climate research is largely based on onshore geological studies and is hampered by the lack of the high-quality records that can be obtained by ocean drilling."

Dr Holis said the North Atlantic expedition would be an excellent opportunity for young New Zealanders to follow a Kiwi scientist as he travelled half way around the world to participate in a multi-national research programme.  

“Every day I’ll be working closely with scientists from the USA, Britain, Australia, Japan, India, China, Korea, Germany, France, and Sweden.

“The ship operates around the clock, with everyone working 12-hour shifts for the duration of the voyage. It can be hectic and demanding, and enormously rewarding at the same time."

An education officer on the ship will help with outreach opportunities, and a videographer will bring the expedition to life via YouTube.

Classrooms, schools and other institutions in New Zealand interested in participating should send an email to the NZ-IODP office.

“We can then add you to an email distribution list to keep you updated with progress. In addition, there will be an opportunity to sign up for a ship-to-shore video link with the research ship during the expedition.”

To start following Dr Hollis and the expedition, called IODP Expedition 342, check out the expedition related pages here:

http://drill.gns.cri.nz/DrillNZ/Latest-News/Current-Projects/IODP-Exp.-342

ENDS

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