Project Ultra

Project Ultra will explore Seafloor Massif Sulphide deposits in Ultramafic rocks on the Mid Atlantic Ridge (13 30N) on the RRS James Cook in 2022 and 2023.

[Project Ultra @ProjectUltra22]

@ajmartin1991 @MUN_EarthSci Brilliant results Andrew and good luck in Vegas. Don’t gamble all your gold away!

[BOSCORF @BOSCORF_NOC]

Some of the spectacular cores recovered for @ProjectUltra22 during Cruise #JC224 in the cold store ready for nondestructive analyses.

Let the science begin!

[Acer Figueroa @acrfgr]

Productive sediment core processing at @BOSCORF_NOC this week! Can’t wait to “hear” what these sediments have to tell! #sediments #PhD

[Isobel Yeo @isobelyeo]

Beautiful view of The Needles this morning. The end of an expedition is always bittersweet, but excited for the science to follow and for part 2 next year. Huge thanks to all the crew, officers, engineers, technical staff and scientists for an amazing expedition. @ProjectUltra22

[Project Ultra @ProjectUltra22]

Final group photo for the Project Ultra science and technical party, as we wait for the pilot in the Solent. It has a great cruise, with some fascinating science. Thanks to everyone on board the RRS James Cook, and back onshore for making it such a great success!

[Project Ultra @ProjectUltra22]

Dolphins off the bow as we head into Ponta Delgada (Azores) to drop off Professor MacLeod.

[Project Ultra @ProjectUltra22]

SzuYing and Christian try on survival suits in our safety drill.

[Project Ultra @ProjectUltra22]

Beautiful calm and flat seas as we head to the Azores.

[Isobel Yeo @isobelyeo]

As somebody who likes writing labels a lot, core curation is basically heaven. Already excited to work on this very interesting core from @ProjectUltra22 drilled by the BGS RD2. #geology #research #ocean

[Travis Fridgen @travdfman]

Dr. John Jamieson of the Earth Sciences department gave a zoom talk via satellite internet from the UK research vessel, the RSS James Cook, from the mid-Atlantic Ocean. Wow! SEA conference, Memorial Science. @MemorialUSci @MemorialU @MUN_EarthSci

[Project Ultra @ProjectUltra22]

Last gravity core on deck, and the RRS James Cook is ready to sail for home. Many thanks to the Captain, John and the crew for a very successful expedition. Lots more to do on the way back, sorting out samples and analysing the results.

[Project Ultra @ProjectUltra22]

And congratulations to Sven, who became a grandfather today. Our best wishes go to him and his family.

[Project Ultra @ProjectUltra22]

Collecting gravity cores to examine the sediments around the massive sulfides. The sediments will include fall-out from the now inactive black smoker vents, which will help constrain the history of the hydrothermal activity.

[Project Ultra @ProjectUltra22]

As well as our drilling noise our seismometers are also picking up tiny earthquakes. These are probably coming from very nearby. Typically several occur every hour, a reminder that we are on an active plate boundary, where Africa and America are separating at about 12mm per year.

[Project Ultra @ProjectUltra22]

Some preliminary results from Szu-Ying's seismic while drilling experiment on the sulfide mound. We laid OBX seismometers on the seafloor, and recorded the seismic waves generated during drilling. The signal from the rig (top) is clearly seen at the other seismometers.

[Project Ultra @ProjectUltra22]

Team HyBIS celebrate Christian's first dive with an ice cream. Busy looking for altered sulfide samples for Christian's PhD project.

[Project Ultra @ProjectUltra22]

HyBIS ROV team fit a packer into the hole made by the BGS RD2 drill. The blue material slowly swells once in contact with seawater, sealing the hole. The Ultra team will return in 2023 to pop the cap at the top, to allow fluids from the borehole to be sampled for geochemistry.

[Project Ultra @ProjectUltra22]

Sven Petersen can't believe #DrKatieMcFall's pXRF measurements from the drill core! Does it really have that much nickel?

[Project Ultra @ProjectUltra22]

Acer showing the science team his plans for gravity core and megacore sampling sites. The plan is to use these to map the vent fallout, and understand the timing of the hydrothermal activity.