PCMSC Scientists Participate in Research Expeditions Across Pacific Ocean

By Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center September 6, 2023

Scientists from PCMSC participated in several research expeditions across the Pacific Ocean during the 2023 field season!

USGS staff hold a sediment core aboard the Bering Land Bridge Expedition — USGS staff hold a sediment core collected during the Bering Land Bridge Expedition in August 2023.

Bering Land Bridge Cruise

A team of scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, USGS, and other partnering organizations were aboard the Research Vessel (R/V) Sikuliaq during the month of August 2023 to study conditions that existed on the Bering Land Bridge during the last ice age. USGS Research Geologist Jenna Hill was part of the research team that collected samples from beneath the sea floor to learn about the vegetation and climate of the region around 25,000 years ago.

Staff from PCMSC pose in front of Santa Cruz Island, Galapágos Islands — Staff from PCMSC pose in front of Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos Islands, during the Hydrothermal Vents of the Western Galapágos expedition.

Hydrothermal Vents of the Western Galápagos

From August 13 – September 10, 2023, members from the Global Marine Minerals Group were aboard the R/V Falkor (too) to the Western Galápagos Spreading Center to investigate active and inactive hydrothermal systems there, as part of an expedition with the Schmidt Ocean Institute. USGS scientists Amy Gartman, Kaitlin Adamcyzk, and Jaycee Favela were part of a team that collected critical marine mineral and sediment samples to be studied at PCMSC.

Three yellow sea stars, forming a rough triangle, are surrounded by orange and pink anemones, tentacles extended. — Photo of yellow sea stars surrounded by orange and pink anemones taken during the Seascape Alaska 5: Gulf of Alaska Remotely Operated Vehicle Exploration and Mapping expedition.

Seascape Alaska 5: Gulf of Alaska Remotely Operated Vehicle Exploration and Mapping

USGS Research Geologist Jamie Conrad is aboard the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer co-leading a series of telepresence-enabled ROV dives in the Gulf of Alaska. They will be surveying offshore landslides, volcanoes, faults, and a broad spectrum of biological phenomena until September 16.

Hawai’ian Drowned Reefs

An international scientific research expedition, carried out on behalf of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), aims to recover a record of past climate and reef conditions off the coast of Hawai’i. USGS Research Oceanographer Nancy Prouty is part of a team of 29 scientists from Australia, Austria, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Great Britain and the USA that will participate in the two-month research expedition aboard the multipurpose vessel MMA Valour, which left the port of Honolulu at the end of August.