Large instrument package being deployed from DAVIDSON

Chain dredge operations

Chain dredge recovery on RESEARCHER. Boatswain Bill Sanders in yellow hardhat

A good chain dredge haul on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Dr. Peter Rona looks on, Boatswain Bill Sanders in yellow hardhat. Operations on the RESEARCHER

Box coring operations during DOMES project. DOMES - Deep Ocean Mining Environmental Studies. Off of OCEANOGRAPHER

Box core showing high density of manganese nodules. Box cores have the advantage of showing character of undisturbed ocean bottom. Off of OCEANOGRAPHER during DOMES project. DOMES - Deep Ocean Mining Environmental Studies

Spring loaded grab sampler being deployed from PEIRCE. Studying ocean dump site off Delaware Bay

Recovery of box core on the PEIRCE. Studying ocean dump site off Delaware Bay

Grab sampler being deployed. Bottom sampling in support of nautical charting. Determination of bottom characteristics for anchoring

Grab sampler being deployed. Bottom sampling in support of nautical charting. Determination of bottom characteristics for anchoring

Orange peel sampler ready for deployment

Piston corers ready for deployment on Scripps research ship MELVILLE

Coring device being deployed from MT. MITCHELL

Deploying coring device from Scripps research ship MELVILLE

Woods Hole Angus camera sled being deployed from RESEARCHER. During studies of deepsea hydrothermal vents on Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Woods Hole Angus camera sled in water prior to being lowered to bottom. During studies of deepsea hydrothermal vents on Mid-Atlantic Ridge

A bottom photograph showing flower-like crinoid stalks.

Towed sub-bottom profiler with shock absorber cables. Used on MT. MITCHELL

Air gun for sub-bottom profiling. Able-bodied Seaman Bob Rojecki making adjustments prior to deployment. Used off of the SURVEYOR

Underway gravity meter installed on SURVEYOR. Used to measure variations in the Earth's gravitational field

Magnetic anomaly map produced on SURVEYOR. Magnetic striping is readily apparent in this map of offshore California. Earlier magnetic work led directly to Theory of Seafloor Spreading. This map helped unravel the tectonic history of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Data acquired by towed proton precession magnetometer

Portable vans used in lieu of installed laboratory space on many ships. Vans on PEIRCE during phosphate studies off North Carolina

Chief Boatswain Joe Dimartino operates winch - CTD operations on MT. MITCHELL. CTD - Conductivity, Temperature, Depth measurements. MT. MITCHELL CTD's used to determine ocean sound velocity structure. Sound velocity information used to correct soundings. In support of bathymetric mapping operations

Chief Boatswain Joe Dimartino instructing winch operators during CTD operations. CTD - Conductivity, Temperature, Depth measurements. MT. MITCHELL CTD's used to determine ocean sound velocity structure. Sound velocity information used to correct soundings. In support of bathymetric mapping operations

Captain A. Theberge and Lt. Mike Abbott discuss ship-handling during CTD's. Chief Boatswain Joe Dimartino watches over winch operator during CTD operations . CTD - Conductivity, Temperature, Depth measurements. MT. MITCHELL CTD's used to determine ocean sound velocity structure. Sound velocity information used to correct soundings during bathymetric mapping

Captain Theberge and Lt. Abbott monitoring CTD operations. CTD - Conductivity, Temperature, Depth measurements. MT. MITCHELL CTD's used to determine ocean sound velocity structure. Sound velocity information used to correct soundings. In support of bathymetric mapping operations

MT. MITCHELL CTD operations - Field Operations Officer Dave Gardner on right. Night-time deployment of CTD rosette. CTD - Conductivity, Temperature, Depth measurements. MT. MITCHELL CTD's used to determine ocean sound velocity structure. In support of bathymetric mapping operations

Captain Theberge and Lt. Abbott monitoring CTD operations. Chief Boatswain Joe Dimartino observing winch operator

Satellite sensors and imagery have revolutionized oceanography. An image of the Gulf Stream

Satellite sensors and imagery have revolutionized oceanography. An image of the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico

Sounding machine devised by Robert Hooke. Drop glass ball with weight over side. Ball disengages when weight hits bottom. Known rate of descent and ascent - can then derive depth. Never worked right.

HMS RACEHORSE in pack ice - Captain Constantine Phipps. Sounded in Norwegian Sea in 683 fathoms. Brought up blue mud. First modern successful sounding on continental slope area. Not sounding in image

Boats from HMS EREBUS and HMS TERROR - Captain James Clark Ross. Sounded in open ocean at 27.43 S and 17.48 W. Recorded depth of approximately 2200 fathoms. First modern successful sounding in deep ocean

USS VINCENNES in pack ice - Captain Charles Wilkes commanding. On the Antarctic shelf, Wilkes sounded with copper wire in 400 fathoms. First use of wire instead of hemp sounding line. Copper too ductile and would break - gave up on idea

A second attempt at a bathymetric map by Matthew Fontaine Maury. Published in "The Physical Geography of the Sea" with black and grey shading. Showed vast relatively shoal area in Mid-Atlantic which gave birth to the notion of a "Telegraphic Plateau". The shoal area was actually part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge discovered by Otway Berryman in 1853.

Deepsea soundings by the USS ARCTIC - Otway Berryman commanding. Top line is ship track between Newfoundland and Ireland. Bottom line is profile and shows no plateau. Generated a controversy with Matthew Fontaine Maury. Maury declared erroneous and continued touting "Telegraphic Plateau"

Sounding device made by William P. Trowbridge for Coast Survey. Line would pay out of a descending cylinder and stationery cylinder on deck. Similar to modern bathythermograph copper wire instrument. Civil War intervened stopping research. Probably would have worked

Thomson piano wire sounding machine as mounted on USS TUSCARORA. This machine was invented by Sir William Thomson, a.k.a. Lord Kelvin. Made use of heavy weight and piano wire - line paid out until weight hit bottom . This machine revolutionized deepsea sounding. Variations would be used for over 50 years

USS TUSCARORA - commanded by George Belknap. First ship to successfully use piano wire sounding machine

Track of USS TUSCARORA from Cape Flattery to Japan.

Profile with bottom characteristics of TUSCARORA soundings. Profile shows continental slope and Juan de Fuca Ridge. This was the first indication of the Juan de Fuca Ridge system

Sounding record from Fish Commission Steamer ALBATROSS.

Auxiliary vessels of the Coast and Geodetic Survey 1942.

Ships of the Coast and Geodetic Survey 1942.

The BLAKE anchored off WINDWARD Passage. George Belknap shipped Thomson piano wire machine to BLAKE in 1875 Charles Sigsbee modified Thomson machine. Sigsbee sounding machine was the standard for many years

Diagram of the Sigsbee Sounding Machine as used on the BLAKE. George Belknap shipped Thomson piano wire machine to BLAKE in 1875 Charles Sigsbee modified Thomson machine to make the Sigsbee Sounding Machine . Sigsbee sounding machine was the standard for many years

Sigsbee Sounding Machine in use on the ALBATROSS.

Contour map of Gulf of Mexico as sounded by the C&GS Steamer BLAKE between 1873 and 1875. Over 3,000 soundings went into this chart, most of the deep water soundings beween taken by the Sigsbee Sounding Machine. This was the first realistic bathymetric map of any oceanic basin. In: "Three Cruises of the BLAKE" by Alexander Agassiz, 1888. P. 102. QH 93.A26 1888 v.1.

Soundings from the Sigsbee Sounding Machine in the Gulf of Mexico.

Contour map of the Caribbean from soundings by C&GS Steamer BLAKE and Fish Commission Steamer ALBATROSS. Both ships used Sigsbee Sounding Machine. In: "Three Cruises fo the BLAKE" by Alexander Agassiz, 1888. P. 98. Library Call Number QH 93.A26 1888 v.1.