Here is a picture of the temperature probe (which is called a HOBO) with a piece of sulfide still around it. This is the probe that I refered to in the temperature measurements email that came to the surface with the rock still around the probe. The golden glittery surface on the inside is chalcopyrite and pyrite (fools gold).

Follow-up from yesterday.

The electrical problem was solved and today's dive is about halfway through and is proceeding as normal. Since there were no samples collected yesterday most of the science party is catching up with experiments, reviewing data or preparing for tonight's samples.

Experiments in the lab and the field rarely run an organized 9-to-5 schedule and out here on the R/V Atlantis, the schedule is especially strange. Since the submersible will not come up to the surface with samples until 5:00 pm, much of the work of the day does not start until after dinner. With people working later in the evenings, the ship seems empty in the middle of the day as people catch up on lost sleep.

Some of the scientists on board are conducting experiments in the area surrounding or above the vent field at night that do not involve the use of Alvin. Each evening after Alvin is safely in the hanger, the people involved in night operations get ready to begin their "day." As Alvin is prepared for another day on the bottom, cameras are towed behind the ship, rocks are cored from the areas adjacent to the vent fields, or instruments are deployed to measure the flexing of the ocean floor.

Twenty-four hours a day someone is awake on the ship. The crew is up on the bridge or running checks in the engine room or science may be up roaming around working on experiments. Although it is usually quieter at night, it is nice to know that someone will be awake somewhere.