We have resumed dredging on the southwest flank of Fernandina and expect to be moving toward Cerro Azul and Floreana in the next few days. Best regards, Mark This cruise is being funded from a grant from the National Science Foundation. The focus has been to sample drowned coral platforms for dating in the Huon Gulf of Papua New Guinea, just north of Australia. Ages should reflect sea level low stands over the past 400 Ka, and possibly the ages of glacial terminations. Tectonically the region is subsiding rapidly due to the collisional load of the mountains to the north that override the margin of the Papuan peninsula.
Preliminary study suggests a variable elastic thickness of the lower plate normal to the collision.
We had 18 days of diving with the ROV Jason and recovered 17 elevator loads of rock and several smaller loads on the Jason platform. Grabbing samples with the claw proved more effective than any of the add-on tools we brought along. We retrieved individual samples as heavy as 80 pounds, with a total weight of recovered reef material in excess of 2700 pounds. This appears to be the largest load of rock recovered on any Jason cruise, and the success of this program has relied heavily on the great skill of the Jason pilots and navigators. From most sites we recovered excellently preserved coral, including abundant porites, acropora and favid corals.