Ampulator

The ampule sealer was in light use, and it worked well.

Balances

There were no issues with the Cahn or Mettler balances.  

Carver Presses

Carver presses were used during the periods of sediment coring, and they worked well. The squeeze cake extractor stand was modified; the wood was removed and replaced with stainless steel supports. The new stand is easier to clean.  

Cary Spectrophotometer

The spectrophotometer worked well. Ammonium analysis waste was disposed of by soaking it up in absorbent pillow material in ziploc bags, labeled as “Chem lab waste, DO NOT OPEN” and placed in burnables bags.

Coulometer

The coulometer was in moderate use, and it worked well. Coulometer waste was disposed of by soaking it up in absorbent pillow material in ziploc bags, labeled as “Chem lab waste, DO NOT OPEN” and placed in burnables bags.

Elemental Analyzer

The CHNS worked well.  A new reactor tube was installed at the end of the expedition.

Freeze-dryer

The freeze-dryer was used throughout the expedition, and it worked well.

Fume hoods

There were no issues with the fume hoods. Fume hood #3 was used for Rhizon splits due to the need for an ampule sealer, as the air line had already been plumbed to FH#3. Fume hood #4 was shared between IW splits and MBIO.

Gas Lines/manifold

There were no issues with gas lines/manifold.

GC: NGA1/NGA2/GC2

NGA1 was not used. NGA2 was used for headspace analysis at one site. GC2 was used used for PFT analysis at three sites. All GCs worked well. 

A spare column for GC2 was ordered as well as two spare Gerstel autosampler 2.5 mL syringes. The syringe has changed just slightly from when we bought our existing ones, thus replacement plungers were also ordered for the new syringes to ensure compatibility. All of the above items were added into AMS: CM9053 Syringe, CM9054 Plunger and CM9052 Column.    

Hydrogen generators

No issues with the hydrogen generators. All hydrogen generator maintenance kits were collected together and relocated into cabinet C-C2 underneath fume hood #2. It is easier to keep them all in one location.

IC

The IC worked well throughout the expedition. High anion pump pressure and leakage from the MSM were experienced twice during analyses. The determination series was paused and the MCS was backflushed for 10 minutes. The instrument worked well for the rest of those analyses. The operating pressure for the anion pump mostly stayed between 8.5 and 9.0 MPa for the expedition. The leakage usually occurs around 10 MPa. A 10-minute MCS backflush during instrument start-up can be used to help prevent high pressure during an analysis.  

ICP

Both IW ICP and HR ICP were analyzed on this expedition. The instrument worked well. All HR ICP analyses were performed on ignited powder. 56 HR ICP samples from 390 were rerun. This was requested by the 390-393 science party.

The beadmaker produced excellent beads with the 1220°C temperature setting. 400 mg of flux and 100 mg of sample worked well.

The furnace was not heating at all in the beginning of the expedition. One functional spare heating element was located onboard. The furnace is currently running on one element only, but it worked well for all the 393 LOI needs. More heating elements have been ordered. They should arrive for 397T. They are on the FCLP inventory and should be checked out when used. CM5222 Top element, CM5223 Bottom element, CM5224 Side element. When the elements arrive, the spares should be clearly labeled and placed under the Upper Tween stairs for storage. They are fragile and should be handled with care.   

HDPE Nalgene bottles crack easily when in prolonged contact with nitric acid – when dissolving beads the agitation and the extra tightening of the lids also add to the cracking. According to Jeff Ryan polypropylene is much more acid resistant than polyethylene, which most of our current bottles are made of. An order was placed for 60 ml wide-mouth round polypropylene bottles to see if we could get more longevity out of them.

https://www.fishersci.com/shop/products/polypropylene-wide-mouth-bottles-6/02896B#?keyword=nalgene%20PPCO%20wide%20mouth%2060%20ml

Microbiology

COY soft shell anaerobic chamber was set up on Upper Tween on top of two grey boxes and a sheet of plywood. See image:

http://confluence.ship.iodp.tamu.edu:8090/display/LN/COY+Anaerobic+Chambers

The soft shell chamber was used sporadically for room temperature incubations in UHP nitrogen environment. Approximately one bottle of nitrogen was used.

COY hard shell anaerobic chamber in the cold room was only used for temporary wholeround sample storage. It was plumbed solely with generator nitrogen.

Koach clean bench was set up in the lab. The main filters installed on 390 kept working well for the duration of 393. Hard rock samples were processed in a rock box on the Koach bench using a hammer and a chisel. Chisel guards were made from ethafoam rod to keep the microbiologists from hitting their hand when using a small diameter chisel and missing the chisel head with the hammer. These worked very well and made the procedure safer. See image on Confluence:

http://confluence.ship.iodp.tamu.edu:8090/display/LN/MICROBIOLOGY%3A+EXPEDITION+SPECIFIC+NOTES

Foldio360 Smart Turntable and an iPhone 12 were used to take 360 degree images of the MBIO hard rock samples on the Koach clean bench before hammering and chiseling the rocks into pieces.

Labconco Vertical Clean Bench in the cold room was used for incubations.

MB0089 Profiling oxygen microsensors were used for measuring oxygen in sediment cores. This was set up in the downhole lab.

PFMD tracer was run at three sites. Tracer pump A was used, and it worked well.

“BIOLOGICAL ATMOSPHERE” gas bottles in TBULK were supposed to have been filled with 5% hydrogen and balance in nitrogen. They were supposed to contain no CO2, but it seems the old labels were left on the bottles when they were being filled. The bottles were tested for CO2, and they turned out not to contain any. The test was performed by filling a gas tight syringe from a gas bottle and injecting the sample into a GC. No CO2 peak was observed.   

The AFT MBIO incubator was defrosted at the end of 393. The other incubators were used for sample storage until the very end. The middle MBIO incubator as well as the -86 freezers (both focsle deck and TBULK) should be defrosted during the tie-up.

Salinity

The digital refractometer was used in the beginning of the expedition in order to keep everything the same as on expedition 390. As comparisons were made between the digital and analog refractometers, a drift was observed in the digital refractometer. A decision was made to only use the analog refractometer for the remainder of the expedition. The early salinity values were spot checked with the analog refractometer, and the data were adjusted for the drift.   

SRA

The SRA was not used. Voltage adjustments recommended by Bruno Leroux at Stratum Reservoir were made, and the instrument is now operating as it should. Bruno’s email with detailed information about acceptable voltage ranges (and the measured voltages) can be viewed on Confluence:

http://confluence.ship.iodp.tamu.edu:8090/display/LN/SRA+-+Weatherford+Source+Rock+Analyzer

Pipettes

Pipettes worked well. Two new 1000 µl pipettes were ordered; one of them a fixed volume 1000 µl and one adjustable.

Pipette N2115.006 was dropped and is being sent for repair.

Titrations

ALKALINITY

Erratic alkalinity values were experienced early into the expedition. The acid dispenser probe was found to be missing the black “frit” on the tip. After the acid dispenser probe had been replaced the titrator worked well. Erratic values returned later on, and this time the issue was resolved by changing out the cable for the electrode. The alkalinity titrator is working well now.   

There was an incompatibility issue between the alkalinity software and Excel. Any time the alkalinity software was launched, Excel would just shut down without warning and would not generate a “recovered file”. When the new alkalinity computer is installed, this should be checked and the issue eliminated if possible. This is easy to test by just having a file open in Excel while starting up the alkalinity software. If the Excel file is still there after the alkalinity software has finished starting up, then all should be well.

CHLORINITY

The chlorinity titrator was not used.

TOC

The TOC was not used.

Water system

The water system was in moderate use and worked well. The excess filters for the old water system were shipped home and only three of each filter type were left onboard as spare filters for the thin section RO unit. The inventory has been adjusted accordingly.

AMI Nitrogen Gas O2 Sensor

The O₂ sensor worked well. There were no significant fluctuations in the generator nitrogen O₂ level. The level mostly stayed around 4 ppm.

MISC

Rhizon sampling was set up in the splitting room and performed on every section of every sediment core throughout the expedition.  

The emergency shower drain, located directly behind the main chemistry door (FD 43), produced considerable backflow during rough seas several times. Green absorbent socks were not at all effective in containing the spill. A rubber bung was installed in the drain to temporarily prevent further overflow while navigating rough seas. The bung has been removed, and there have been no further issues. Spill barrier dikes were ordered. They will be tested to see if they would be a good replacement for the ineffective absorbent socks.

Four of the larger blue bins were modified to fit in the drying ovens. An order was placed for a few more blue bins.