Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University proposes to support technical services on R/V Marcus Langseth as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) research fleet. R/V Langseth, a 235? seismic survey vessel purchased in 2005 from Western GECO to be operated as a geophysical research vessel (with some additional general purpose oceanographic capabilities) is owned by the National Science Foundation It replaced R/V Maurice Ewing, a 236? research vessel operated by LDEO from 1990 to 2005. LDEO is requesting funds to support both basic and specialized services for operation of airgun seismic sources and multichannel seismic data acquisition in both 2-D and 3-D modes. They propose to provide three technicians on each seagoing research project to provide basic services and to maintain equipment, calibrate sensors and provide support for qualified users. Additional personnel are included for operation of the specialized seismic systems. The budget in this proposal is for the first year of a 3-year continuing grant.
The Oceanographic Technical Services award provides science mission support for the R/V Marcus G. Langseth. This includes funding for technical staff, planning/logistics, equipment/system maintenance, and any other necessary support functions. The R/V Langseth maintains a unique and extensive 2D and 3D multi-channel seismic imaging capability for the UNOLS academic fleet. This capability allows it to carry out complex marine geology and geophysical investigations around the globe and provide detailed images of structural features down to 10's of kilometers below the seafloor. The ship also supports other general purpose oceanographic cruises as well.??The R/V Langseth maintains a broad array of science sensors along with the MCS systems including a large EM-122 Multibeam system for seafloor mapping, a 3.5 kHz sub-bottom profiler, an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), a gravimeter, a towed magnetometer, towed CTD profiler, an uncontaminated seawater system and thermosalinograph, and automated surface water pCO2 system as well as other equipment. Over the period of 2009-2011, the R/V Langseth provided support for 9 major projects encompassing 14 cruises and over 580 days of operations. Detailed annual reports have been submitted documenting the outcomes of each project. These included a major cooperative 4-cruise geophysical project called TAIGER ( jointly supported by NSF and Taiwanese government), the second academic 3D imaging project off of western Costa Rican margin, and collection of 4 cruises around Alaska-- two for the USGS as part of their ongoing Extended Continenal Shelf mapping program and two cruises in the Aleutians and Chukchi Sea examining subduction processes and the Arctic basin , respectively. ?Other projects have included extensive geophysical refraction studies employing Ocean Bottom Seismometers off the western coast of Canada and out in the central Pacific.
