| Abstrakt: |
AS THE TENSION ON THE WINCH NEARED 20,000 POUNDS, tension also creased the faces of the scientists, engineers, educators, and crew on board the Canadian Coast Guard vessel John P. Tully. Attached to the line, stretching 2200 m to the seafloor was the top two meters of a hydrothermal vent chimney clubbed Roanne by members of the expedition. Despite the best estimates of scientists and engineers, its weight was uncertain. Was it too heavy to lift on board the ship? Why was it still stuck to the seafloor? Unwilling to risk ripping the heavy equipment from the ship's deck, Engineer Le Olson gathered University of Washington, Chief Scientist John Delaney and American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) Curator Ed Mathez to decide when they should cut the line. At that moment a call came from the ship's fantail. The rock had broken free and was coming up. An hour and a half later, having traveled through a mile and a half of cold seawater, the precious rock sample arrived at the surface, steaming and in two pieces. A thermometer inserted in its base registered 200°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
