Blogs

Good day everyone! Today, I would like to tell you about our other co-chief scientist.

Fumio Inagaki is one of the co-chiefs for this expedition. He is a microbiologist and earned his PhD in molecular genetics and environmental microbiology from Kyushu University in Japan.

Fumio Inagaki is a microbiologist and is one of the co-chief scientists for Expedition 329. He earned his PhD in molecular genetics and environmental microbiology from Kyushu University in Japan where he studied antibiotics and microbial interactions in the environment.

It looks just like black sand to me! What do you think? When the scientists bring cores up from the seafloor, they are wet and look like mud. After the scientists process them, the sediments can be studied in detail and a lot learned.

Yesterday, I mentioned that the bottom sediment at this site is black looking sediment and above it is light brown clay. During the day, I had the opportunity to sieve them, dry them, and look at them under the microscope. It was quite interesting, so I have put several photos below, so that you too can see what the thin sediments at this site are like.

What is this thing? Today, we are out in a part of the South Pacific Ocean where there is very little ocean life. This is because there is very little food available. As you know, water is clear in color but ocean water has some coloring to it due to several things.

Our current location in the South Pacific puts us in the center of the South Pacific Gyre. A gyre is a large (ocean spanning) circular movement of the surface water and in the southern hemisphere, the movement is counterclockwise. This area is considered to be a desert within the ocean because there is so little life. The result is that the surface water is extremely clear.

Viva la France! Comment allez-vous? Not bad for an English speaking microbe, huh? On board Expedition 329 is an international crew of scientists, including microbiologist Laurent Toffin from France. Laurent lives along the coast in the northwest of France with his wife and young son. He earned a PhD in microbiology from University Brest.

Laurent Toffin is microbiologist sailing on Expedition 329. He was born in Saint Cloud, near Paris, and grew up in France. He currently lives in Locmaria-Plouzane, located along the coast in northwestern France, with his wife and young son.Laurent earned a Masters degree and a PhD from the University de Bretagne (University Brest) in the field of microbiology.

Hi! My friend, Jacob, has a very interesting job on board the JOIDES Resolution and today I am going to tell you a little about him and what he does.

The weather is very nice today and we should be arriving at our next drilling site about mid-day. Last evening the scientists presented their findings up to this point. Results, so far, are still preliminary.