All the scientists sampling gases from the seawater collected by the non-trace metal CTD rosette on leg two of GP15.
The team from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Oceanographic Data Facility for leg two.
The Roger Revelle took a sun scorched pass by the island of Bora Bora in its final days at sea.
The trace metal CTD rosette lurks beneath the surface while the retrieval team stands at the ready with tag lines.
The trace metal clean CTD rosette emerges from a calm sea, with one tag line attached and the other reaching out for its loop of rope.
Even the tropical Pacific can have brooding moments. Here, the trace metal CTD rosette hangs just below the hydraulic “A-frame” as it is hauled in.
Once the trace metal CTD rosette is back on board the team quickly covers the bottle openings with plastic shower caps to minimize contamination.
Members of the pump team Steven Pike (foreground) of WHOI and Yang Xiang of UCSC prepare to grab the winch cable to retrieve their equipment.
The final instrument to come out of the water during pump casts is the CTD, which records an array of data that forms a crucial background for interpreting the particles collected by the pumps’ filters.
Around 4 a.m. on November 24, members of the GP15 team await the return of the final return of the CTD rosette at the end of the expedition’s scientific sampling.
Scripps Research Technician Drew Cole prepares to fix a tag line to the CTD rosette to guide its final arrival on deck.
The final cast of GP15 hovers above the deck of the Roger Revelle as Columbia University’s Martin Fleisher retrieves a device called the “mono-core” that hangs below the CTD rosette and is used to collect sediment cores.
Virginie Sanial of the University of Southern Mississippi looks out to sea while waiting to collect her final samples of GP15.
A dramatic sunrise served as the backdrop as GEOTRACES researchers collected the final samples of GP15.
Virginie Sanial of the University of Southern Mississippi captures the morning’s celebratory mood.
The scientists taking samples from this instrument wrap up their routines for the last time as the horizon lights up.
Everyone turns up on the back deck for the last sunset of the expedition.
The final sunset of GP15 did not disappoint.
Janelle Stephen of Texas A&M University looking out to sea on GP15’s last night before reaching Tahiti, perhaps recalling a time when the journey seemed endless.
Jingxuan Li of WHOI in a contemplative moment during the final sunset of GP15.
Vinicius Amaral of UCSC finds some levity amid the fading light.
The sunset takes a bow before the final curtain call.
On the morning of November 25, the R/V Roger Revelle reached its final destination of Papeete, Tahiti. Here, the neighboring island of Moorea juts from a calm sea during the final approach to Tahiti.
After thousands of miles traveled, thousands of liters of seawater sampled and countless hours of sleep deferred, GP15 arrives in Tahiti.
Tahiti, as seen from the Roger Revelle on the morning of November 25, just before the harbor pilot sped out to bring us into port.
GP15 blog posts written by Alex Fox unless otherwise stated.
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GEOTRACES GP15 is supported by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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