Ben Grupe (left) prepares the conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) bottles for deployment. This is one instance when being tall comes in handy. Normally, scientists have to climb onto the white frame to cock the bottle caps. As the CTD is lowered into the ocean, a computer monitors the data and orders bottles to snap shut, collecting water samples from different depths.
Seafloor
Image courtesy of INSPIRE: Chile Margin 2010. Download image (jpg, 62 KB).

This image was picture taken by a video camera attached to the bottom of the multicorer. It shows several echinoderms, including a sea star and brittle stars, and crinoids (sea lilies). While we did not find a methane seep, the camera was towed above the seafloor for two hours, giving us lots of information regarding the animals that live on this unexplored section of Chile’s continental margin.

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