We are finally on board the ship! Greatship Manisha arrived in Kiel Wednesday night and we were allowed on board early the next morning. The ship is a 3-year old drill-ship from a commercial contractor that has been modified for this expedition. On board we got a quick tour, including safety instructions. More pictures will follow when the internet here allows it!
The scienceteam works in labs in containers on the back deck of the ship.This part of the ship is the "Science garden" - with some real plants! I will mostly be working in the Geochemistry container with Thorsten, Jeanine, Dalton, Luzie and Patrizia. We'll be analyzing salinity, sulfide, ammonium, alkalinity and methane in porewater. We will get the porewater samples from the "curation container" where the water is either squeezed or sucked out of the sediment cores. We're also responsible for subsampling the porewaters and storage for later analysis on land.
Our living quarters are located at the front of the ship. There are 66 people on board & we have 4 meals a day. The drill-deck is in the middle of the ship, but that area is off-bounds for most of the science team for safety reasons. We've all got brand new red overalls and hardhats to wear when working. We're at the location of our first site now and hope to get our first sediment samples soon.
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