X372 Technical Report PDF File

Contents

LAB OFFICER'S AND ALO'S CROSS-OVER NOTES

WILLIAM MILLS, LISA CROWDER and SANDRA HERRMANN

IODP Expedition 372: South China Sea Rifted MArgin

The first of two expeditions to study slow slip events (SSEs) on subduction faults and actively deforming gas hydrate–bearing landslides on the Hikurangi margin east of New Zealand.
Science Prospectus: See URL http://publications.iodp.org/scientific_prospectus/372/
Operational Reports: See URL https://iodp.tamu.edu/scienceops/sitesumm/372/

Operational Dates

• Departed: Perth, Australia at 1830, 03 December 2017
• Arrived: Lyttleton, New Zealand at 0700, 4 Jan 2018

STAFFING CHANGES

• Ty Cobb sailed with us for the first time in Physical Properties Laboratory; swapping crews with Sheri Frazier.
• Inva Braha sailed as our new curator (sailed the previously expedition as a student aid).
• Suzan Boeham sailed in the chemistry lab due to a temporary vacancy.

PORTCALL

Expedition 372 officially began with the first line onshore (Fremantle, Australia) at 0742 on November 26, 2017 ending expedition 369. On the same day, the technical staff boarded and completed a routine crossover with the off-going staff. During the 5-day portcall, the technical staff welcomed the science party onboard, gave the safety orientation class, introduced scientist to their labs, showed them how enter and retrieve data. All logistic activities completed without issues. Prior to the start of the transit, the ship anchored offshore for 2 days while divers cleaned the hull (New Zealand de-biofouling requirement).
During the portcall all microscopes were serviced by SERCO (Emile);

Transit

From Fremantle to our operational sites on the Hikurangi margin east of New Zealand, took just over 12 days, gaining back 2-days lost for hull cleaning. The expected rough sea crossing the Australian Bight and the Tasman Sea did not materialized and the staff completed a number of major projects in the labs. See summary section of this report.
Except for the Bass and Cook Straits, both bathymetric and magnetic data was collected.

Operational Areas

All operational sites were within 2-day transit time from each other. With the exception of two severe storms, the weather was cool and mild. The two storms were sever enough to stop operations with winds speeds of 50-60 knots producing a heave of 7+ meters.

LOGISTICS

AMS/Inventory

• One of the blue Vidmar cabinets in HRS was removed and sample storage created. Some inventory items were consolidated into the other cabinet and some items were transferred to UTS like batteries and small tape. Uline shelf bins are on order to help organize and use the depth of the cabinets more effectively. They will arrive 375.
• The blue Vidmar Cabinet was moved to UTS. We want to discuss with oncoming ALO's, which items best to store there. For now, we added sieves.
• BLO items (Munsell Charts, Hand lense) were moved to black Vidmar cabinet in planning area.

OFFGOING SHIPMENTS

• Air Freight to IODP (RAF)
• Express Boxes to IODP (EXP)
• Foreign Air Freight (FAF)
• Surface freight to IODP (SURF) one dry container, two FLATs
• NO core shipment, Cores will be shipped together with X375 cores
• Three Dry Shippers, 14 Refrigerated/Frozen World Courier

Laboratory Summary

Because the expedition was primarily an LWD and Downhole measurement expedition with a long initial transit from Perth to New Zealand, the core lab saw little activity except for coring at site U1517. At this site, the primary objective was to sample for intact gas hydrates and interstitial water samples, which required coordination between the drilling, technical, and science staff. Unfortunately, little intact gas hydrate was recovered and fortunately, the expected issues with curating extremely gassy cores did not occur.
Technical staff kept busy with numerous maintenance projects, lab cross training, Christmas holiday preparation and that ever-favorite pass-time of updating lab documents.

IMPORTANT CHANGES

• Except for the Velocity systems, all phidget hardware has been removed from the tracks and replaced with the NI Compact-DAQ devices.
• All LVDT have now been replaced with the Acurity AR700 Laser displacement sensor. This changes how we calibrate the two PWL systems and the Caliper station. Calibration (correction of system delay and laser offset) is done with a single standard.
• The two whole-round loggers are identical hardware-wise and run on the same software version. For any expedition, one track should be designated as the primary data collector and assign the instrument group name "WRMSL" and the other track "STMSL". When you make this change, you need to go to each instruments Setup window and select the correct track.

Core Deck

• WMRSL and STMSL track systems: Both tracks saw the following maintenance and upgrades:
  • Removed all hardware, repaired holes and refinished counter tops. Additional support was installed for the aft-WRT to remove the bow in the table. On the forward countertop, the epoxy sink was removed and new countertop inserted.
  • Installed all new track hardware and rails. Unfortunately, the rails are sub-standard and new Delrin rails have been ordered.
  • The new pneumatic P-wave system was installed on both tracks. This means both tracks are identical and run on the same version of the IMS software.
  • Sinks: The sinks purchased in Perth did not work out. New sinks and the fittings are being delivered to the upcoming port call for installation.
• Pneumatic P-wave: An upgraded design has been installed on both tracks. Design changes include a core liner wiper to remove water. The wiping gasket is a 3D-printed rubber compound. It does not appear to be very durable and was damaged from the few cores we ran but it was affective at removing the water. A few more copies will be made from different materials will be sent to the ship for testing.
• IMS Tracks-phidgets: All of the phidgets on the two WRT and SHMSL have been replaced with the NI Compacy-RIO devices. Only the Velocity station needs to be upgraded.

Core Entry:

• Removed the port cabinet under the STMSL countertop, repaired the floor. Re-installed the cabinet but moved it all the way to the port.
• Supports were installed under the GRA to lift the sag in the countertops and an open shelve was installed to hold the end caps off the floor.

Magnetics Lab:

• Repaired the floor under the haskris.
• Replaced the plastic tubing to the Cryomech compressor with SS. Piping.
• Added additional supports to Cryomech compressor to keep it from shifting in high seas.
• Installed a heat exchanger in the chill water line to the Cryomech compressor. We are using the outgoing hot water to warm up the incoming chill water. This has allowed us to increase the flow but we are looking at adding a heating block to line to bring the oil temperature up.

Physical properties Lab: The application on the Velocity-Gantry was replaced with a new program "Velocity 10.1". The is application is based on the IMS common tools, uses the same logic as the track's PWL system to filter acoustic signals and determine the first arrival, uses the same calibration process and supports the AR700 laser for measuring the caliper distance.
Catwalk:

• Installed Ice machine on the catwalk for support for the PCS. Never used. SEIM has relocated the ice machine to their space. Waiting on shore to decide if they will transfer the ice machine to SEIM.
• On the transit, staff installed catwalk wind wall and fabricated new windows and frames. The fames, which will allow the window to be removed, were not installed because we did not have the correct fasteners. The1.25" screws for completing the installation should arrive this port call (or port purchase?). Note, that the frames are numbered as to which ones go together.
• The IR camera was used to locate hydrates will marginal success.

Microscopes: All microscopes were service in Freemantle by Emile.
Core Description: Aaron created a binder "Core Description Bible" containing all of the basic handouts scientists use each expedition as well as reference material. In addition, he upgraded the Value List Build macro.

Core Splitting:

• Uber Saw: A new saw control cabinet was installed and completely re-wired per SEIM installation standards. The changes made allowed for the ground fault interrupt to be installed on the saw motor.
• A second 110V outlet was installed under the counter adjacent to the saw.
• The Pressure Coring System sample was installed in the splitting room. Unfortunately, the PCS was used during the expedition.

Fo'c'sle Deck

LN2 Generator: The cryo-compressor on the LN2 generator failed because of a loss of helium pressure. Unsure if this is due to a leak or just years of service. A service call is scheduled for the upcoming port call. Fortunately, we were able to extract and store enough LN2 to meet the expedition needs. Unfortunately, we do not have to correct fill fitting for the unit and was unable to top off the system with our UHP helium. The fill fittings and gauges have been ordered from Cryo mech, which will work on both the LN2 and SRM cryo-compressors.
XRD Lab: Successfully migrated the XRD applications to a WIN 10 system.
Cold Lab: SIEM crew installed a removable cover for the A/C duct. When cold room chiller is on, the vent is covered to prevent condensation. When chiller is off, vent cover must be removed to allow air circulation.

HOLD

• Core Reefer: The offending "hair-eating" circulation fan was relocated to the corner of reefer. Staff with long hair still need to be careful working around an operating fan. Cabinets on the starboard side where reorganized.

Underway Geophyics Lab and Fantail

Port Magnetometer Winch

• The control linkage to the hydraulic motor slipped again when attempting to bring the magnetometer in. When the unit was powered on, it began paying out cable at full speed. By the time we got control of the unit, there were only four wraps left on the drum. A quick adjustment was made and we were able to recover the magnetometer safely. Mike Mering re-adjusted the linkage so that when the control lever is centered, the drum stops (or nearly stops).
• Mike found that the stops on the fleet arm's magnetic bar were mis-adjusted and would allow the arm to move outside the sensors area. Instead of providing 10-V correction signal to quickly slew the level wind back into position, it gave 0-V, which would cause the level wind to stop completely. Mike fixed this and made other adjustments, which improved the system performance.
• A new hand controller and cable was installed for the manual slew control
• The new level wind control electronics made it to the ship and was installed towards the end of the transit and tuned. We made several test deployments and retrievals and the level wind correct tracks the drums without manual intervention.
• An enclosure for relocating the control board was delivered to the ship but deemed unsuitable for the application. A new enclosure has been ordered.

High Pressure Air SYstem

• Chief engineer replaced the high-pressure isolation valves with a "welded" style that cannot fail like the previous valves.
• The new high-pressure manifold from Swagelok arrived in College Station. An enclosure and mounting bracket will be fabricated and sent the ship ASAP.

VSP Hose bundle

• Color coded tie wraps were installed to replace the color tape.
• Nylon sling for hanging the gun arrived, placed on the ship's registry and color-coded. If you decide to try these keep in mind that you must use smooth shackles, rinse and dry after use.

Lab

• Removed the two center electronics rack so that the oncoming crew build shelving.

CORE Description, SEM, Micropaleontology preparation Lab

Aaron de Loch

Summary

Expedition 372 saw only saw only sediments consisting of sands, clays and silts with some ash layers. There were only four sedimentologists and no paleontological scientists. Expedition 375 scientists will describe the Paleo samples taken during this expedition.

• The science party did not take any thin sections
• No one used the SEM.
• No new issues arose with DESClogik.
• I added a new feature to the Value List Builder macros.
• I created a binder with all the basic handouts scientists use each expedition as well as reference material. I labeled it "Core Description Bible" and it's under the archive table in a black binder. I will try to better guide the science party with smear slides by noting early on to designate a smear slide person on each shift and have them review the first 30 pages of the Smear Slide Atlas: Part I.
• Jon Howell was working on updating the code for DESC reports. No changes will be noticeable by users.

ISSUES/DEVELOPMENTS/To BE noted

DESClogik

The latest DESClogik version is 16.1.0.19. No new issues occurred.

• I added an "All Possible Matches" option to the Value List Builder macro. If checked, it will continue to loop through workbooks until it finds all possible matches, not just the first instance of a term. It's good for searching for a species by genus, or finding all instances of similar terms.
• I have a Species Finder macro, similar to the Value List Builder, which I plan to introduce to paleontological scientists on Expedition 375. I made a Value List Builder Scientist, for use by describers, which pulls from lists copied to the desktop of a workstation rather than the server. I am unsure it will be of much interest to them, but it might help them "shop" for terms when building their template. It is also in the expedition value lists folder, and instructions for it's use are in the same user guide as the Value List Builder.

Paleontolgy wet LAB

Nothing to update.

Thin Section Report Builder and Writer

Nothing to update

SEM

• Scientists only used the SEM once, out of curiosity.
• I followed up on the door not sealing well, and had the same problem. I added some of the Hitachi provided grease in the XRD safe to the chamber's O-ring, and that seemed to help. Although, without major use it is hard to tell.
• I also added the spare for the cable that became detached on Expedition 368 to AMS as "Ribbon Cable". It still lives in the XRD safe.

Shipments

• None

Data Backup

• All DESClogik data was exported to excel and saved on a hole-by-hole and template-by-template basis to data1/10.1 Core description, and copied to Uservol.
• All smear slide sheets were scanned and saved to data1/10.1 Core description.
• In order to sink all google value lists on ship/shore all current value lists (main and sub), were copied from "All things DESC" on IODP Share to data1/10.1 Core description.

PALEOMAGNETICS LAB

BETH NOVAK

Summary

No measurements were made in the paleomagnetic lab during Exp 372. Projects included updating manuals, updating plumbing for the SRM, and floor repairs.

Issues

General Lab

• Floor repair completed under the Haskris water chiller
• SRM cross training completed with the technical staff. A short powerpoint has been placed in IODP Share: IODP Technical Manual: Paleomag: Current folder

SRM

• The SRM was shutdown for approximately 24 hours for plumbing work. This work included:
  • Installing new three way valves for switching water flow from ship's chill water to the Haskris.
  • Installing a heat exchanger on the chill water lines (ship's chill water source) to the Cryomech compressor. The hot water returning from the compressor is being used to warm the chill water (from ~40 F to ~50 F) before it reaches the compressor. The metering valve can now be opened further and reduces the systems sensitivity to temperature and flow rate fluctuations in the ship's chill water system. The compressor oil temperature has been near 70 F. Cryomech recommends oil temperatures between 90 and 100 F. We are investigating the use of pipe heat tape to warm the water another 15 F.
  • Replaced plastic tubing connections between the chill water lines and the compressor with stainless steel lines. Mounting points and nylon straps have been added to keep the compressor from shifting.
• The SRM was restarted and monitored closely during the cool down process. Table 1 includes the temperature and pressure stats for the SRM during the warming and cooling process.
  • A field trapping may be necessary in port call.
• We noted that we do not have the proper fitting to recharge the helium in the compressor. Steps were taken to order the fitting and lines.
• Updated the user guide to include further maintenance procedures (measuring response lengths, using the calibration coil, etc.)
• Conducted detailed response length testing. A summary report has been placed in the PMAG Documents share folder.
• Began testing the IMS-SRM 10.1 software.
• Updated the SRM Cryomech Compressor manual to include new configuration after plumbing work.

JR6

• JR6 91063 returned from the vendor and testing with the system was completed.
• JR6 90769 was packed and prepared for shipping to AGICO via College Station for routine maintanence.
• Updated JR6 manual to include instructions for the new upload procedure
• Updated the JR6 uploader guide.

Orientation Tools

• Both Icefield 2007 and Flexit 0937 orientation tools were run at Site U1517B and U1517C. Only seven cores were oriented. The data will be used to reorient the cores when they are measured during Exp 375.

Kappabridge

• Tested Kappabridge Uploader and LIMS report. A testing document was produced and distributed.
  • Testing was only done for the Agico file outputs
• Worked with the AMSspin code to generate a file for data upload. Project is ongoing.
• Updated Kappabridge manual to include instructions for using Agico Sufar.exe and AMSspin software packages.

Table 1 SRM Vitals Monitoring during warm up and cool down

LAST MINUTE UPDATE:

On the previous expedition issues with SRM Instrument Host PC randomly changing was reported. Initially this appeared to only affect the dates on files. During the expeditions, the MCS made several changes that appeared to resolve the issue. During the testing of IMS10.1 for the SRM (this week) we again noticed the wrong dates in the data files generated. In addition, we were troubleshooting an issue of seemingly random errors in the LabVIEW code that generated a timeout event for the Degauss Controller.
This VI used the LabVIEW Timestamp data structure and we would compare the start time of a ramp up (or down) with the current time and generate an error if it exceeded a specific value. What we noticed that the product of the comparison would occasionally be the value 329585 and would generate a timeout error. On the next iteration, the value would be the expected value (4-40 secs).
Last night I finally realized that the two issues were related; the LabVIEW time stamp is updated with the PC's system clock! This same stamp tamp is used to calculate the drift correction of the SRM data, as well. This is not good…
This morning, with the MCS assistance, we swapped out the instrument host and had both versions 9.2 and 10.1 up and running under LabVIEW 2017. As we are in the middle of end-of-cruise activities, our opportunity for further testing is limited. Any testing we can do will be focused on the 9.2 version, which should be used for the upcoming expedition. Also, we recommend that the upcoming crew continue testing for errors in the system clock as it is very difficult to confirm that a random error is truly fixed.

PHYSICAL PROPERTY LAB

Ty Cobb

Summary

Expedition 372, was a low recovery cruise and allowed major refits of the WRMSL, STMSL, and Gantry systems. After testing and minor debugging all systems ran without any major issues for the extent of the Expedition. STMSL was not used for measuring core during the Expedition.
Physical counts were done for all inventory items in the lab; plungers for the MAD station are in transit to X374 port call.
The NGR, WRMSL, Gantry, Strength, and TCON manuals and quick start guides have been updated to the current working states of each instrument and have been placed within the individual current folders in IODP Tech Docs with the appropriate nomenclature _372.

Individual Measurement Systems

IMPORTANT CHANGES

• Except for the Velocity systems, all other phidget hardware has been removed from the other tracks and replaced with the NI Compact-DAQ devices. The Velocity station will be upgraded in the near future.
• All LVDT have now been replaced with the Acurity AR700 Laser displacement sensor. This changes how we calibrate the two PWL systems and the Caliper station. Calibration (correction of system delay and laser offset) is done with a single standard. We now have a fine collection of paperweights.
• The two whole-round loggers are identical hardware-wise and run on the same software version. For any expedition, one track should be designated as the primary data collector and assign the instrument group name "WRMSL" and the other track "STMSL". When you make this change, you need to go to each instruments Setup window and select the correct track.

Moisture and Density (MAD)

• The MAD station had a few issues throughout the Expedition. The software was rebuilt and replaced by the developers; the issue was dealing directly with the webservices client. The correction required the removal of the display flag within the filing system, a feature that is no longer required in the most recent version of webservices.
• Pycnometer Cell 3 begin having extreme shifts in standard values, at first we changed out all o-rings and recalibrated. The issue still persisted and the cell was replaced with the spare. The same issue was observed in the spare cell. It is likely that the plungers in both cells are allowing a decrease in Helium pressure as the measurements are being made. Currently, there are no spare plungers on board, so the problem with both cells was not corrected.
• The original computer remains, the boards required to make the switch to the new Windows 10 computer came in but with the wrong cable terminations (terminal blocks that require the cable ends to be cut and individually wired). The correct USB 6255 with the SCB-68 (SCSI) termination has been ordered.

Technical Service

• Cleaning and calibration were performed at the end of the Expedition. The O-Rings for all cells were replaced at the beginning of the Expedition.
• Cell 3 was replaced with the spare, plunger replacement and monitoring is required to resolve the issues with both the original cell and the spare.

Natural Gamma Radiation (NGR)

• The NGR ran without any issues for the extent of the Expedition. The NaI counts have been observed to be a little high (~5000); detector #3 seems to be the issue, as the counts were normal when it was not included. After a brief time, detector #3 wires were placed back into their normal locations and the NaI counts were back to normal, the issue still needs to be monitored to see if the source can be found.

Technical Service

A background was run at the beginning of coring. Calibration was performed once during the Expedition. The back door was raised and the measuring tube was cleaned out.

Section Half Image Logger (SHIL)

• The SHIL had issues with the project name and uploading images. The images into LIVE require that the projects selection match upon uploading to LIMS, this is directly related to the asman_id data files. Work around create a Site named test rather than an Expedition.
• See Image Specialist report for all technical service.

Section Half MultiSensor Logger (SHMSL)

• The SHMSL had minor only minor issues. The power to the QEPro caused communication problems and was replaced. The MS Point standard was missing from the database and had not been uploading (OTHR52911601), this has been rectified and no other problems occurred.

Technical Service

• The halogen light source was changed at the end of transit and will require changing on the 10^th of December 2017. The white standard for the spectrometer was cleaned at the end of the Expedition.
• The Xg2 board (power to the QEPro) was replaced after issues with the hardware loosing connection with the computer. Replacing the board solved the issue.

Shear Strength Station

• The AVS was used with minor issue. The main issue being a comm disruption randomly while using the program, the init toggle button within the software disappears (occurrence is at random). This seems to be a new issue with the switch to Windows 10. The only solution to this has been to restart the computer. David Fackler has been researching this issue, but no permanent solution has been found.

Thermal Conductivity

• The TCON ran without issue. The new mini half space probe arrived at port call in Freemantle, but was not used during the Expedition. The .ini file for the half space probe was placed in the appropriate fold on the TCON computer.

Whole Round Image Logger (WRIL)

• The WRIL was not used.

Whole Round LoggerS

Both tracks saw the following maintenance and upgrades:

• Removed all hardware, repaired holes and refinished counter tops.
• Installed new track hardware and rails. Unfortunately, the rails are sub-standard and new Delrin rails have been ordered to replace them.
• The NSK actuator were raised above the rails to prevent a pinch out (ouch!) should your hands be in the way.
• Sinks: The sinks purchased in Perth did not work out. New sinks and the fittings will be delivered to the upcoming port call for installation.
• Pneumatic P-wave: An upgraded design has been installed on both tracks. Design changes include a core liner wiper to remove water. The wiping gasket is a 3D-printed rubber compound. The material does not appear to be very durable and was damaged from the few cores we ran, but it was effective at removing the water. A few more copies will be made from different materials will be sent to the ship for testing.
• We had continuing issues (noted last expedition) with RS232 communication to both the MS and AR700 dropping out randomly. Apparently, there is a known issue affecting some of these units. This also may have been the issue seen in the UW lab. The work around was to remove the NI USB-RS232 4 port hubs and connect the RS-232 cables directly into the computer. This is working and we'll continue to investigate the issues with NI regarding this hardware. Note, we have not seen issues with the Velocity, SRM or SHMSL systems that use the same hardware.
• The IMS software correctly handles a missing instrument or an instrument that fails initialization. Note, the graph window still opens but is ignored by the program. This will be fixed on the next update.

FWD WHOLE ROUND Logger

• The GRA Scintillator was broken during the above work. A spare detector is being sent out for replacement.
• The epoxy sink was removed and new countertop inserted.
• The phidget electronics was replaced with the NI Compact DAQ hardware.

AFT WHOLE ROUND Logger

• Additional support was installed under the STMSL countertop near where the GRA sits. The supports were used to take some of the GRA weight and remove the bow in the countertops.
• The floor under end caps was repaired and the adjacent cabinet moved to the port.
• An open shelf between the new counter supports and cabinet was installed for the end caps.

Velocity Ganty

• The Gantry system was upgraded before coring began.
  • The LVDT system was replaced with an Acurity AR700 laser system.
  • The Velocity-Gantry application was replaced prior to arriving on site, with a new application "Velocity 10.1".
  • The software is based on the current IMS 10.1 version and is archived in SVN under the IMS10 folder. After downloading IMS10 the executable is located in C:/IMS-10/FRIENDS/DPW/BUILD/Veleocity.exe. The current desktop shortcut points to this location.
  • Beyond minor bugs that have been worked through, there were no major issues.
  • A new QSG has been made to correspond with the new software.
• It should be noted that all files must have a common title within the file itself. For example, a PW file from the gantry caliper must have the heading PWAVE_C for it to upload to LIMS correctly.

Software Issues

• For both the Gantry and WRMSL there have been some problems with NI Scope. This deals directly with the NI 5133 board. In both tracks when the error occurs it requires that the user logs off the DAQ account and logs back in (the frequency is about every few days when the system sits without use). David Fackler is aware of the issue; he has opened a ticket with NI and is awaiting response. Until then, there is the temporary fix of logging off and logging back on. See Developer report for more detail.

General

• Sinks for the PWL have been ordered and will arrive at the 374-port call.
• All whole round water standards were cleaned and replaced with fresh DI water.
• The WRMSL/STMSL water tank for the peristaltic pump of the P-wave logger should be changed as needed, with a very small amount (one cap full) of bleach added to discourage bacteria growth.
• Physical counts should be kept as current as possible especially with long shipment times to and from the ship.

Shipment

To Shore

• Air Freight: Scintillator, all AR200 lasers and all but one LVDT systems; to David Houpt

To Ship

• Spare Scintillator

IMAGING & MICROSCOPES

TIM FULTON

Summary

Expedition 372 has been a low recovery LWD expedition. The main focus of my work was to proof the line scan images for the core recovered, produce or edit the weekly photos and write the captions, produce the group photos, t-shirt stencil production and co-ordinate the ironing party, assist the scientists with microscope issues and photograph on the catwalk with the core retrieval.

Image Files Produced

• 4Imag Close-ups Images
• 0 Thin-section Images
• 222 Line Scan Images
• 52.88 GB Still Images

Microscopes

• The microscopes were serviced and cleaned by Emile in Freemantle.
• The inventory of the objectives will be completed as per every expedition. There had been a lingering issue with two sets (4) objectives sharing inventory numbers. This inventory number is not an AMS type of number rather it serves the Imaging Specialist and others to keep up with locations and count.
• To close, the microscope lab equipment available and overall layout of the lab is strong and well suited.
• The microscopes will be cleaned for the next Expedition.

Issues:

• Another Spot camera should be ordered for an SV-8.

CHEMISTRY LAB TECHNICIANS REPORT

Suzan BOEHM & AARON MECHLER

Ampulator

The Adelphi ampoule sealer was not used. No issues to report.

Balances

No issues to report.

Carver Presses/Squeezers

Middle press continues to have occasional leaking issues.

Cary Spectrophotometer

The Cary was used to analyze ammonium, phosphate, and silica. The oxalic acid reagent for one of the silica reagents is out. There were no bottles of oxalic acid in the hazard stores. Looking at AMS the last bottle was checked out on the ship a year ago. There was then a bottle checked out on shore (to be sent to the ship), but then no record of making it to the ship or being checked in on the ship. There was enough to do a limited amount of silica measurements but there is nothing left for X374. I don't think the new oxalic acid will make it to the ship until X375.

CHNS

Total nitrogen and carbon were measured, using the Buffalo River Sediment as a standard. No issues.

Coulometer

The Coulometer was used, No issues to report.

Freeze-drier

No issues to report.

Fume hoods

F2 still beeps.

Gas Lines/manifold

Still crashes.

GC3/NGA1

Both GCs were calibrated. All headspace samples were analyzed on the GC3. The NGA was used to measure some VAC samples but was abandoned after some poor results. Primarily unreliable oxygen and nitrogen values and peaks for higher hydrocarbons when there shouldn't have been any. The GC3 was suspected of having contamination or some other issue at one point due to small ethane peaks in the methane standards. It was later determined that the ethane was most likely from the standard gas bottles and not anything to do with the GC.
NGA wasn't automatically uploading to the database. Copy and paste of files to upload directory worked but C3-C6 were not uploading. Looking like it may have been a difference in name formatting, I wasn't sure if it had to do with the method I had copied and used. It also looks like the macro that's supposed to copy the files to the upload directory wasn't on the NGA pc which is why the auto uploading wasn't happening. That's currently being looked into and worked on.

Hydrogen generators

No issues to report.

IC

The IC was used to measure cations and anions on the IW samples. Marta found an issue with the sulfate results where they never go to zero when it's zero. Instead, the sulfate on the IC would zero out at about 0.85 mM. She found that by correcting the IC results, there was a close correlation with the results for sulfur from the ICP. She also said this wasn't the first time she's seen this and has seen it in other labs with IC. Something to look into maybe, or just detection limits.

ICP

Marta was a little skeptical of the method combining majors in minors into one run but eventually came around and liked it. We tried a couple minor differences, primarily wanting to make the method simpler.
We opted to only use yttrium as an internal standard instead of the mix of In, Sb, and Be. I think any differences aren't anything to worry about when dealing with a shipboard measurement but using multiple internal standards or changing which is used is easy to do by keeping the internal standard as a separate spike instead of mixing it into a matrix solution for dilution. We sought to reduce the number of lines being measured by not running any lines as both axial and radial but only as one of those and only measuring two lines per element. Marta picked the lines that looked best and that's what was then uploaded. We also did not do the major salt additions to the synthetic standard solution, opting to keep major and minor standards completely separate for their respective elements and did some different concentrations for the minor elements.
Otherwise, method conditions were kept the same as X369. Standard concentrations as used in the ICP program were converted back to mM and µM instead of ppm. Scientists on X369 may have been happy to do those conversions, but when Marta wasn't enthusiastic about that, I knew many other scientists wouldn't want to bother with that either. Having the results come out in mM and µM is much more preferable than ppm.
We also did not use the excel macro to transpose data. Instead of averaging multiple lines together, one line was selected and used for data upload; so we also uploaded results with the wavelength for each line.
Adding Phosphorus and Sulfur as lines to be analyzed was a good idea and was useful. Sulfur for comparison to the Sulfate data on IC and noticing that the IC results never go to 0. Phosphorus for comparison to the Phosphate results from the spec. Our phosphate results were very scattered and quite bad. They had planned to rerun them until the phosphorus data from ICP correlated with the results from the spec, which persuaded Marta that the bad phosphate data was real.

salinity

The optical refractometer was used. No issues.

SRA

The SRA was not used.

Pipettors

No issues to report with any of the pipettors.

alkalinity

The alkalinity titrator was used with no issues to report.

Chloride

The chloride titrator was used with no issues to report. A solution of _{0.014 M AgNO}3~ was prepared instead of the normal 0.1 M solution. This was to perform the titrations using only 100 µL of sample instead of the normal 500 µL.

Water system

No issues to report. Helped fix leaking in the thin section RO system.

TOC

The TOC Analyzer was not used.

PFT GC

The PFT GC was not used.

Geochemists

Katja Heeschen Organic Geochemist/Pressure Coring Specialist Research Center for Geosciences Geo Forschungs Zentrum Potsdam Germany
Karina S. Machado Organic Geochemist Federal University of Parana Brazil
Satoko Owari Inorganic Geochemist Department of Earth Sciences Chiba University Japan
Paula S. Rose Inorganic Geochemist Physical Environmental and Natural Sciences Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi USA
Marta E. Torres Losilla Inorganic Geochemist College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Oregon State University USA

XRD & ICP SAMPLE PREP LABS

Nicolette Lawler

Summary

Expedition 372 was a low recovery, short LWD expedition and is partnered with X375. Shipboard XRD samples were taken and will be evaluated on X375.

Total samples

• XRD: 99
• ICP: 0
• XRF: 0

XRD

99 shipboard samples were taken and measured for preliminary results. A scientist sailing on X375 sent out 26 standards to be run to get a head start on creating regressions for quantitative mineral work on X375. His standards were run and staying on board for X375 in a box labeled 'Mike Underwood standards X375'in the X-Ray cabinet.

D4

The D4 sample grabber started failing on this expedition. Several times in the middle of a run I received the error 'Object lost etc…' I took a look at the xyz alignment and when sending commands to 'pick up object' the grabber would not pick it up. The metal prongs would hit the grabber legs but did not trigger a response. I took apart the unit, cleaned up some gunk that had built up and has been working fine for about a week and a half. Talking back and forth with Bruker they are concerned the grabber is starting to fail and recommend ordering a new grabber unit to have on hand when it totally goes. David Houpt, LOs, and ALOs are aware.
I took a couple videos and pictures of the grabber not grabbing and they are on the XRD Desktop.

sample holders

A couple of the steel back-loading sample holders are being sent back to College Station and/or Bruker for evaluation and potentially getting returned or exchanged. The holders were purchased in August 2016 and are already very oxidized and getting rusty. At first there was a concern that the powder was not staying put in the holders either but there is a work-around for that.

HASRIS

The Haskris ran without issue. The water was replaced at the beginning of the expedition and has a flow rate between 7.01 and 7.04.

XRD computer

The XRD computer was successfully switched over. In the Measurement Server Configuration Software, the TCP/IP Com Port was changed from 4242 to 4250 which allowed communication between the computer and D4. XRD Commander, D4Tools, Configuration, Measurement Server Configuration, Eva, FileExchange, TOPAS, and Dquant are all installed. The mineral and structure databases are compiled. The parameter files, past expedition archive folders, and other miscellaneous files were also transferred over.
The old XRD computer is still in the X-Ray lab in case anything goes wrong on the next expedition. After that

Freeze dryer

The Freeze dryer ran without issue. Due to very minimal use (~5 days) the oil was not changed.

ICP

No ICP measurements were taken on this expedition.

Shatterbox/Mixer Mills

The Mills were not used.

Beadmaker

The Beadmaker was not used. The water filter was changed at the beginning of the expedition.

XRF

The pXRF was sent back to Olympus for repairs during portcall. The analyzer should be back on X375.

Uploading sPectral images

I suggest we use the snipping tool to take an image of the spectral data in the 'Results' tab on the software. In the snippet include the run number and we can link it back to a sample. This needs more discussion with Alexis, David, and the programmers.

User guides

Three User Guides were created and updated. The pXRF User Guide and XRD User Guide were updated and sent to David for approval. Both manuals are sitting in the 'Current' folder in IODP_Share. A Diffrac.TOPAS Quick Start Guide was made and also sent off to David.

THIN SECTION LAB

Suessan Bohem

Summary

No thin section requests. Frosted approximately 150 slides using the LP50. Petro thin and PM5 were used when cross training another tech in the art that is thin section creation. Buehler wheel was not used at all. X-ray tech used the labconco freeze dryer.
Emile serviced the microscope in port call. He suggests keeping the external light source disconnected from the scope during transits as it puts strain on the scope and may have been the cause of it being so out of alignment.
The forward section of the lab flooded because the pvc pipe connecting the sediment trap was found not even attached. The sediment trap was full and dirty so that is cleaned out and with plenty of plumber's tape and tightening the connections as much as I could the seals are good. There is label tape with the date of the last cleaning to make sure it gets rinsed out on a regular basis.

LP-50

The slurry drum for the LP50 should be emptied and power washed and left open to dry at the end of every expedition. When left sitting it grows a lot of bacteria and smells awful.
Only used for slide frosting, everything worked great.

Petrothin

Used very briefly for cross training and demonstration purposes. Everything seemed aligned and the vacuum pump working well.

PM5 Polisher.

I agree that the sound the spinning arm makes is slightly noisier than before. I only used it the once for cross training and everything was working.
Replaced the drain hose that leads from the polisher to the sediment trap. It is secured to the cabinet to make sure the hose stays up against the drip spout and keeps it at a downward angle for draining.

Samples and methods

No samples. Didn't use any epotek epoxy so whatever is in the bottles has been there since 369.

Slide laser engraver

Only used once for practice. Alignment of the saved template was good on the first try.

Miscellaneous

We have about twice as many large impregnation molds than was previously on the AMS sheet, I found another partially used box when cleaning and combined the two.
I cleared out the obsolete spec polishing pads and put them in surface freight back to CS.
Barnstead RO water filter: replaced both membrane cartridges. This is done by accessing the left panel and you need to drain the reservoir and lift it off its bracket to set in the sink. There are two catches to slide behind the top that keep the reservoir in the bracket attached to the wall. The last ones had not been replaced since 2015. Also replaced the prefilter and carbon filter. The prefilter should be checked more frequently because we do not have a ship water particle filter- like the barnstead in the chem lab has.
When the filter was put back together it was discovered that 3 out of the 4 pressure gauges in the front panel do not work, the connections were leaky, and the pump itself was leaking. Ultimately the pump was taken out of the housing, disassembled, and replaced a rubber diaphragm with an old spare in the chem lab. The unit is running and producing filtered water. We will need to order replacement parts for the pressure gauges and their connections.
….
He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming, it came.
Somehow or other it came just the same.
"maybe Christmas" he thought, "doesn't come from a core."
Maybe Christmas perhaps, means a little bit more.
And what happened then? Well, on the JOIDES they say,
That the Grinch's cold heart, warmed three degrees C that day.

ET REPORT

GARRICK VAN RENSBURG & RANDY GJESVOLD

CORE DECK

SRM

• Installed the new water heating system and updated Haskris and compressor piping to hard pipe Swagelok.

PYCnometer

• Unit 3 on the Pycnometer was leaking; and we replaced with the spare unit. The spare also seem to have a leak and we need spares to service both units.

SHMSL

• Replace XG2 "Excelsys" power supply module. Spare modules were requested.

STMSL

• Disassembled the STMSL track.
• Re assembled the STMSL track and added upgrades.
• Replaced faulty Top OF Core fiber optic cable.

Gantry

• The small pre-amp was replaced with an Olympus square wave pulsar/receiver. The small pre-amp was inverting the signal. Only the receive amplifier circuit is used.

core splitting room

• Disassembled the super saw control box. The installation was completed and the system was used during the expedition.
• Installed new operating program on the GV6 6000 based Servo Controller. The Parker Motion operating program has been installed on Laptop RF 52334.
• Refurbishing and repairing door pads.

NGR

• Channel 3 on the NGR was running high counts again; the signal cable between detector 3 and the NGR amplifier was checked for lose connections. After this initial step, the count returned to normal levels.

WRMSL

• Disassembled the WRMSL track.
• Re assembled the WRMSL track and added upgrades.
• We removed the National Instruments "USB to RS-232" units as they are deemed to be unreliable.

DHML

• New Computer Installed. Tested with APCT-3. Works Satisfactorily.
• APCT-3 Temperature Tool was deployed at site 1415C.
• Tool 1858005C was deployed on cores 15, 17, 23, 29 and 34.
• Tool 1858007C was deployed on cores 20 and 26.

Upper Tween Stores

• The Fan ceased to function. The Motor has shorted out. New fan on order.

thin section lab

• Helped replace a membrane in the Barnstead water pump.

LN2 Gen

• Liquid Nitrogen Generator froze up. It was emptied and vented for 12 hours. A restart was attempted and it immediately tripped off line due to low pressure. It turns out that the helium for the cold head is low. Unable to refill at this time because we do not have the correct size of fitting.
• A service call is being planned; we do not have confirmed dates at the moment.

Hold Reefer

• Assisted installing shelves.

gym notes

• Replaced Speed Bag
• Replaced Audio Jack for the Stereo.
• One of the wall mounted fans stopped working; the switched was replaced and the unit is running again.

Underway

• Received a spare Parker DC Motor Drive for the Levelwind. It is stored in the Underway Lab.

Fantail

• The Levelwind was cleaned, greased and had Dry-Slide applied to the slide bars. The electronics module was replaced with a new one. The speed control arm came loose. It was re attached and tightened. The Chain and Screwdrive bar have mechanical issues. Will address in Subic.
• The Gunline Winch was Cleaned, Greased and Exercised.
• The Crane was Cleaned. Attempted to boom it out to grease the boom and it ceased working. It appears to have issues. Discovered later that it had blown out a pressure gauge and spattered hydraulic fluid all over the rudder room. It was determined to leave it as it is. It will be removed soon.

Misc

• A Milling machine was installed in the down tool lab; there is also a new drawer for the tools and parts for the "LittleMachineShop".
• Replaced the T-Shirt printing machine power cord.

CURATORIAL REPORT

INVA BRAHA

EXPEDITION SUMMARY

• 2,761 samples (1,953 personal and 736 shipboard). There will not be a post-cruise sampling party at the Gulf Coast Repository (GCR).
• 177.44 m of core recovered from a drilled interval of 188.5 m interval (94.13% recovery rate)

SHIPMENTS

• 17 boxes of core were recovered from U1517C. These cores will stay on JR until the end of Expedition 375.
• 2 boxes of core were recovered from U1517B-1H. These cores are un-split and will be sent to GCR for CT scanning in the end of Expedition 375.
• 3 WRND samples taken from U1517B-1H for Judith Elger. These will be shipped back to the GCR for CT scanning after Expedition 375 with the cores.
• There will be no pallet inventory for this expedition. The Core Box inventory sheets have been emailed to the repository.
• All sediment (sand/silt/clay) sections were wrapped in Glad Clingwrap. There were no special wrapping of the core sections.
• Frozen and refrigerated shipments will be sent via World Courier from during the 372/374 port call. See the following table for specifics.
  • 3 Dry Shippers (LN2)
  • 1 Frozen shipment
  • 13 refrigerated

Site Conversion

The conversion between pre-site to site identifiers are listed below:

Sampling

SampliNG STRATEGY for catwalk shipboard analysis

Figure 1 Catwalk Sample Strategy for Shipboard Analysis Sampling
The Expedition 372 Catwalk Sampling Strategy for shipboard analysis is shown in Figure 1. IW samples were taken routinely and VAC, HS and IW-GH samples were taken as needed.

• Head Space (HS) – 3-5cc syringe as needed
• Interstitial Water (IW) – 4 IW-10cm WR per core (0-20m) and 2 IW-10 cm WR per core (20 m-TD)
• Mudline –No mudlines were collected in this Expedition
• Paleontology (PAL) – (1) 5 cm WRND per core (All Pal samples were collected and stored in the hold for shipping after Expedition 375.

sampling stategy for catwalk hydrate sampling

Figure 2 Catwalk Sampling Strategy for Hydrates
The Catwalk Sampling Strategy for gas hydrates (GH) is shown in Figure 2. Gas hydrates and gassy void samples were collected as needed. The standard sample length was a 5-cm whole round. This length changed as necessary with the co-chief scientist's approval. Therefore, lengths varied from 5-cm to 14-cm. Gas hydrate from the core catcher (CC) was sampled the same way.
Procedure:

1. Gas hydrate sampling procedure (See Figure 2):
   1. The scientists used the infrared imaging camera and scanned the whole core for cold spots as soon as the core was laid down in the racks and before any other processing started.
   2. While scanning the core for cold spots, both a thermal and standard image was captured. Pictures were downloaded to Data 1 server.
   3. If a gas hydrate sample was identified it was labeled and cut immediately as shown in the Figure 2.
   4. Samples were labeled and placed in the liquid nitrogen dewar (LN2) immediately.

1. Gassy void sampling procedure:
   1. Gas samples were collected using vacutainers as directed by the geochemists.
   2. The location of gas samples was circled and marked as VAC1, VAC2, and VAC3 etc. so that the sample offset could be determined once the sections were cut.

1. Core degassing and stabilization:
   1. The core liner was drilled as necessary to released trapped gas pressure and voids were collapsed (if possible).
   2. Core was split into sections.

1. Remaining catwalk sampling (See Figure 1)
   1. IW-GH, IW and HS were taken
   2. Physical properties WRNDs were taken with the approval of the co-chiefs, after the core equilibrated and ran through tracks (WRMSL, SHMSL and NGR).

Note: The order of the steps listed above was very important in staying organized in the catwalk. Throughout the process, the curator took notes to help the staff and science party keep track of samples and WRs.

Shipboard Sample Plan

The Expedition 372 shipboard sample plan is shown in Figure 3. The sample plan for this expedition was divided into two different stages. In the first stage, Shipboard and Routine Personal samples were collected (Figure 3).
The expedition project manager (EPM) organized shifts for scientists to collect the samples.
In Stage 2 (Delayed Personal), a small shipboard sample party was organized to collect these samples (Figure 4). Macros were used to upload samples into the sample master at a specific format. David Fackler helped getting data into the Sample Master using the macros. Instructions on how to use macros need to be updated in the Developer's Notes in Confluence.
The IODP technical staff was always around to help collecting the samples or enter them in the Sample Master.
Figure 4 Expedition 372 Shipboard Sample Plan (Stage 2) Figure 3 Expedition 372 Shipboard Sample Plan (Stage 1)

Residues

The residue distribution is as follows:

All residues requested were approved by the Sample Allocation Committee (SAC) and reassigned to each scientist's request code and number.

Smear Slides

• 67 smear slides were prepared and 27 of them were described by the shipboard sedimentologists. All smear slides will remain on the JR for Expedition 375.

Thin Sections

• 29 thin section billets were sent from shore to the thin section lab on board. 13 thin sections were made during the expedition. The remaining 16 thin section billets from Expedition 369 will remain on board to be made into thin sections on the next expedition. No new thin sections were requested during this expedition.

Personal Sampling

• Below is a list of the samples requests that were approved by the Expedition 372 SAC and their respective Sample Request Codes. These are samples taken from samples table and WRs samples as well. WRs distribution list for U1517C will be attached with this report via email.

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED

Sample Master and RCM: There were problems encountered with the request code manager (RCM). I had to log out and log back in each time I needed to enter a new code. The green button on the top right corner would not function (see figure below). The problem still exists. (See developer notes)
Sample Master: We had problems uploading hydrate samples into the sample master at first during coring. This problem was fixed by Howell.
Voids: There were several cores with voids in them. After the scientists collected the gas voids samples using a vacutainer on the catwalk the other voids were drained using a hand drill and the core sediment was pushed together using a pusher.

MISCELLANEOUS

Expedition 372 Physical Properties WR:

• After the core from U1517B-1H is scanned, 2 more whole rounds will be cut for Gil Young Kim,U1517B-1H-6; (Top 20cm -Bottom 40cm) and Gaowei HU, U1517C-1H-2; (Top 125cm-Bottom 145cm) at GCR. See attached WRs distribution list for U1517C . All WRs from U1517B will be shipped to the corresponding scientists after CT scanning and after that the core will be split.

World Courier Shipments

Davide Gamboa
1 Dry shipper
British Geological Survey - Wales
Cardiff University Main Building
Park Place
CF10 3AT
Cardiff
United Kingdom
davide@bgs.ac.uk
Tel: (44) 292-167-4280
Gaowei Hu
1 Dry shipper; 1 Refrigerated
Gas Hydrate Department
Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology
62 Fuzhou South Road
Qingdao 266071
China
hgw-623@163.com
Tel: (86) 532-8576-7055
Katja Heeschen
1 Dry shipper; 1 Refrigerated box
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
Section 3.1
Telegrafenberg
14473 Potsdam
Germany
katja.heeschen@gfz-potsdam.de
Tel: (49) 331-288-1425
Mobile: (49) 172-431-8248
Judith Elger
1 Refrigerated WR box
GEOMAR, Research Center for Ocean Research
Wischhofstrasse 1-3
D-24148 Kiel
Germany
jelger@geomar.de
Tel: (49) 431-600-2415
Mobile: (49) 175 695 4256, (49) 431 600 2271
Elizabeth J. Screaton
1 Refrigerated WR box
University of Florida Geological Sciences
241 Williamson Hall
1843 Stadium Road
Gainesville, FL 32611
USA
screaton@ufl.edu
Tel: (1) 352-392-2231
Marta E. Torres
1 Refrigerated box
College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Oregon State University
104 CEOAS Admin Building
Corvallis OR 97331-5503
USA
mtorres@coas.oregonstate.edu
Tel: (1) 541-737-2902
Satoko Owari
1 Refrigerated box
Department of Earth Sciences
Chiba University
1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku
Chiba City 263-8522
Japan
owari.stk@chiba-u.jp
Tel: (81) 43-290-2862
Mobile: (81) 80-1230-6022
Andre Huepers
1 Refrigerated box
MARUM-Center for Marine Environmental Sciences
University of Bremen
Leobener Str. 8
D-28359 Bremen
Germany
ahuepers@uni-bremen.de
Tel: (49) 42121865814
Mobile:
Brandon Dugan
1 Refrigerated WR box
924 16th Street
Dept of Geophysics (Rm 240)
Colorado School of Mines
Golden CO 80401
USA
dugan@mines.edu
Tel: (1) 303-273-3451
Mobile: (1) 713-703-1289

Michael A. Nole c/o Hugh Daigle
1 Refrigerated WR box
Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering
University of Texas at Austin
200 E. Dean Keeton Street Stop C0300
Austin TX 78712-1585
USA
michael.nole@utexas.edu
daigle@austin.utexas.edu
Tel: 1 (512) 471-3775
Mobile: 1 (512) 865-8561
Paula S. Rose
1 Refrigerated box
Physical Environmental and Natural Sciences
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
6300 Ocean Drive
Unit 5850
Corpus Christi TX 78418
USA
paula.rose@tamucc.edu
Tel: (1) 361-825-2710
Sylvain Bourlange
1 Refrigerated
Laboratoire geoRessources - Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Géologie
Université de Lorraine
2 rue du Doyen Marcel Roubault
BP 10162
54505 Vandoeuvre-les-nancy cedex
France
sylvain.bourlange@univ-lorraine.fr
Tel: (33) 3-72-74-4529
Karina S. Machado
2 Frozen boxes @ -20°C
Rua Francisco Heraclito dos Santos, n°100, Jardim das Americas, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, CEP:81530-000
Centro Politécnico da Universidade Federal do Parana, Edificio da Admisnistração do Setor de Tecnologia, Departamento de Engenharia de Produção.
4° Andar, sala 08 (do corredor de sala de professores da Engenharia de Prdução).
People authorized to receive
-Karina Machado ( 55 41 995115715)
-Marcel Maceno ( 55 41 999986734 and 55 41 33613639)
-Nicole Ramos (55 41 999588665).
karinascurupa@gmail.com
Gil Young Kim
Refrigerated WR +MAD Residue box
Marine Geology and Exploration Center
Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources (KIGAM)
124 Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34132
Republic of Korea
gykim@kigam.re.kr
Tel: (82) 42-868-3166
Hiroko Kitajima
1 Refrigerated WR/HRND box
c/o Chad Broyles, GCR
International Ocean Discovery Program
1000 Discovery Dr.
College Station, TX 77845
USA
MS3115 TAMU
Department of Geology & Geophysics, Halbouty Building
College Station, TX
USA
77843-3115
kitaji@tamu.edu
Tel: +1-979-458-2717
Handling info: All samples should be shipped refrigerated to GCR.

DEVELOPER'S REPORT

DAVID FACKLER, JON HOWELL and WILLIAM MILLS

OVERVIEW

This document highlights changes to the JOIDES Resolution laboratory data management environment during Expedition 372.
Selected issues are highlighted, but not reviewed in exhaustive detail. In general, see the ship activity log and product pages on the developer site for additional detail:
http://build.iodp.tamu.edu:8090/display/DEV/Developer+Home+Page
The activity log specific to this expedition will be placed here:
http://build.iodp.tamu.edu:8090/display/HIS/JR+activity

WORK IN PROGRESS

During 372 the developers participated in

• Expedition support.
• Technology replacement for DESC Reports.
• Sample Planning project. Discussions. Model implementation.
• Data Publishing. Model implementation.
• QAQC project – discussion, specification. No implementation.
• Further evaluation of product toward moving to Tomcat 8.5.20 or above.
• NCEI. Scripting toward reduction in effort for contractual archiving of LIMS data.
• SRM upgrade from IMS version 9.2 to 10.1
• Replacement of the Velocity-Gantry application.

CHANGED

Noted changes to software: applications, services, instruments, infrastructure components.

NOTED ITEMS

Items of particular importance are noted by individual lab reports. Items of wider interest or value bubble up to Lab Working Group action lists. Items of specific development concern often have a tracking card in Trello (www.trello.com).

AVS – VANE SHEAR

Continuing annoyance. Not resolved. Load the program. Runs fine. Close the program. Re-open. It fails to detect the only serial port it uses.
State of the serial port may only be reset by either of a cold or warm reboot of the system.

• The behavior is new with the transition to Windows 10.
• All but COM1 have been disabled on the system. All extraneous serial drivers are removed.
• TBD. See if drop-in replacements for the aged comctl3.ocx (6.00.8105) and mscomm32.ocx (6.00.8169) components are available, that will allow the system to more cleanly manage serial communications under Win 10.

BARCODE SCANNER GUNS

• Additional barcode scanner guns desired for corelab deck. Are used at more places. Quantity TBD.
• Failure point tends to be kinked cables. Sufficient to have spare cables. The scanner heads are durable.

KAPPA BRIDGE KLY-4

• Additional progress. Remains in test and review. Effort superseded by testing of IMS 10.1, SRM changes.
• Additional testing of the uploader system.
• Added LORE reports for the content.

LASER ENGRAVER

• Laser engraver product was reviewed. Product has dependencies on selected (but older—pre-9.2) IMS common libraries. Requires additional effort to bring forward to IMS-10+ dependencies.
• Branch work conducted in that review stashed here. This work not deployed.

MADMAX

• Slated hardware upgrade and move to HP240 host did not occur. Cabling received with NI equipment was not what was expected. Deferred (tie-up?).
• Change made in Subversion, but not distributed other than in operational configuration. Default value of ConstVolumeRatio should be 0.988 not 0.965. Moot in the sense that this value is only used for Method D—which has never been used outside of testing during sea trials.
• Physical properties has arranged for replacement and spare components for pycnometer cells. Cell three is leaking. The "spare" wasn't in any better condition—quit that.
• Collections of containers were encountered in expeditions past which were encoded (status codes other than 'D' or 'X') in such a way that no computation was successful with that container. The root cause (a review "fence" built into the container load process) has been repaired and all offending status codes repaired.

NCEI AUTOMATION

• Complete. A set of PowerShell scripts wrappering LORE report services. Enables the extraction of LORE report content and associated file assets to a consistent directory structure. Based on a user-definable configuration. See NCEI automation scripting.
• Though specifically written to support data librarian activities, the tool is also useful to
• aid in generation of end-of-expedition convenience aka "take-me-home" data collections;
• provide broad test coverage of on-going changes to LORE reports.

SAMPLEMASTER

• Pasting of bulk samples into SampleMaster (from the sample party template) is surprisingly slow. Branch code stashed here toward improvement of that code. Take away—new implementations shall not be this complex or convoluted.

• Repeatability case. Conducting a series of two or three parameter searches on sample set of between 50 and 150 samples is sufficient to cause SampleMaster to crash. A lingering opportunity for the improvement of existing SampleMaster until new work replaces it entirely.

WRMSL/STMSL

• Hardware and software fully identical on both systems. For a brief moment.
• Scintillator on the STMSL instance died. Spare from shore on its way. Replacement on order.
• Calibration process is changed for PWL.
• Removed the NI-USB RS232, 4-port serial hubs. As reported last expedition, we continued to have communication drops with the MS and AR700 hardware. The hardware is now directly connected to the computer's RS232 port. This is a known issues with NI and we will follow up. Beware, that this hardware is used on the following systems: WinFROG, SRM and VELOCITY.

DEVELOPMENT TOOLING AND INFRASTRUCTURE CHANGES

PRODUCT SUBVERSION

• A recommendation and work in progress. Rather than stashing copies of LabVIEW code in Novell directories, it is useful to stash stable product in the PRODUCT subversion. Recommend the tree under the namespace apps/physicalinstall for this purpose.
• Operational snapshots placed there for
  • MADMax non-click-once components and configuration.
  • Alkalinity 6.
  • VELOCITY DPW (stale).
  • Laser Engraver 4.
  • Penetration Strength.
  • ICP data reduction spreadsheets.
• IMS: Currently exist in 3 flavors IMS, IMS-SRM and IMS 10.
  • IMS is stale and should not be used for any deployment.
  • IMS-SRM is the current verified IMS 9.2 for the SRM deployment only!
  • IMS-10 is the current deployment point for all IMS applications including the new Velocity application. While this version of the IMS application for the SRM system is functional, it has not been fully tested and there is a current issue with the degauss control code.

• The other tracks are candidates for this too. Though IMS-based products are still distributed from LV subversion, it is useful to capture NI-MAX configurations to PRODUCT--binary snapshots of aliases, tasks, network variables, etc.
• Written Confluence notes are helpful too. Even if quickly out of date, they are good reminders of specific detail to be aware of when the time for a rebuild or refurbish arises.

HARDWARE AND SERVER

HP240 WORKSTATION

• Added VMware.
• Installed development VMs: wapps, sadr, ang, lvngx
• This station talks to the two 4K monitors on the DP ports.
• The USB hub of monitor RF53161 does not work. To be swapped out.

LAPTOP BASE STATION.

• Configured to talk to the two 4k monitors (above) on the mini-DP ports.

BUILDJR

• Continue to effect Visual Studio / .NET builds on laptop development environments. Be sure to check accepted + stable product into PRODUCT subversion.
• Targeted for replacement (in conjunction with BuildHQ) by or before tie-up this year. Continue arrangement with MCS for builds on Windows 2016 Server.
• The Windows server 2008 product is very clearly at end-of-life. Numerous recent releases of software will either not install, or not run—e.g. sqlldr from Oracle 12.2.0.1, Password Safe 3.43, VisualSVN Server 3.7.0.
• Nope. Still no Visual Studio build environment here.
• Java and LabVIEW environments are still functional.
• sql and sqlplus from Oracle 12 instant client installs replaced older Oracle 11.2 full client installs.
• Nexus upgraded to 2.14.5. Rolled back from a 3.6.x upgrade as it would have required additional infrastructure changes.
• VisualSVN Server 3.6.4 is the last version of this product that will run here. Goal: replace rsync-based mirroring with built-in functionality of product over BITS transfer. Similar tech used in staging updates for Windows desktops shipboard.
• Java upgraded to 8u151. Do not upgrade to Java 9 here. That migration will entail code and infrastructure changes.

SYSTEM MANAGER'S REPORT

MIKE HODGE AND MINH HUYNH

Servers (Microsoft):

• David Fackler requested that Pinatubo VM be rebuilt. Reasons were he was not able to install various software such as Visual Studio 2015. After investigating matter discovered that Pinatubo's OS version is too old version to run Visual Studio 2015, which requires Server 2008 R2 P1 minimum oldest OS version. Contacted Phil Gates to discuss whether it is possible from a licensing perspective to upgrade both ship and shore build servers to Server 2012 or Server 2016. This will become an action item for next tie-up period.

Servers (Linux):

• No issues to report concerning any of the Linux servers.

Servers (ODA):

• There were 4 incidents (29^th & 30^th Nov and 4^th & 9^th Dec) where OEMJR Oracle management console had hung and a complete server reboot required. Cause was never identified but, log entries suggest there was possibly a credential problem from ODIE2 attempting to authenticate to OEMJR unsuccessfully. CPU utilization was also noted at 50% constantly for ~12 hours prior to last reboot on 9-Dec. OEMJR13 is expected to replace OEMJR during next tie-up.
• The Oracle ODAs were successfully patched to shore version on 30-Nov.
• LIMSHQ SHIPTEST instance was installed successfully into JR SHIPTEST on ship by Sunil.

Servers (VMware):

• VMware servers performed as expected without any issues.

3PAR SAN:

• The HP 3PAR storage array upgrade planned for 4-Dec was canceled due to technical requirements that we did not meet. Part of update requirements necessitated updated HBA drivers from VMware that were not available from HP. This will need to be scheduled during a tie-up period.

Network:

• On 4-Dec while trying to configure SonicWALL to unblock a website the firewall became disconnected to the local network and required a system restore to factory default to clear. The firewall configuration then had to be restored from a previous backup. Dell SonicWALL Support was invoked for assistance and total outage was ~3 hours. Over next several days various additional configuration changes were re-implemented that were not in configuration backup. Once all was restored and fully operational a current backup of firewall was completed.
• TAMU IT requested additional shore IP entries be entered into JR SonicWALL for DUO dual authentication capabilities that campus requires to be implemented. IP address objects were entered into firewall.

PC Workstations:

• Kaleidagraph v4.0 has been "End-of-Life'd" by vendor. New version v4.5.3 has been obtained from shore and installed on following computers;
  • PC53247 – Focsle Chemlab MBIO
  • PC53260 – CoreDesc workstation
  • PC53266 – CoreDesc workstation
  • PC53285 – Focsle Pubs
  • PC53295 – Focsle XRD Balance
  • PC53308 – CoreDeck VCD4
  • MAC53353 – Focsle Pubs
  • MAC91076 – CoreDeck Stratigraphic Correlator
• Latest version – CoreDRAW Graphics Suite 2017 has been obtained from shore and installed on following computers;
  • PC53249 – Userroom
  • PC53271 – Userroom
  • PC53285 – Focsle Pubs
  • PC53308 – Coredeck VCD4
• Latest version of LabVIEW 2017 was obtained from shore and copied to MCS USB sticks. Lab Officer experimenting with it on new SRM PC.
• Imaged HP Z240 PC53296 for Gantry HP Z420 replacement. Installed successfully.
• Imaged HP Z240 PC53253 for SRM replacement due to possible corruption of original SRM PC. Being tested with new LabView 2017 version.
• Discovered some mDP video cables not seated properly in Dell P2715Q monitors. Reseating cable resolved video not displaying.
• Worked with Nicolette Lawler (XRD technician) in installing Bruker Topaz Structured Database on CoreLab PC53309 (Internet station) but, she has wrong version (version 3.X) that is not compatible with installed dongle. Found and installed v4.2 successfully with one caveat, it must be installed in Compatibility mode on Windows 10 OS. Software was successfully installed on following computers;
  • CoreLab PC53309 (Internet station)
  • CoreLab PC53260 next to PC53309
  • Userroom PC53261
• Configured laptop LT52334 for ETs for use with Motion Planner software. This software is used to communicate with Splitting room saw controller board. Saved software for future installation with readme instructions.
• All RigWatch HP Z420 PCs, except for the laptop in the Core Lab wiring closet, have been replaced with HP Z240 PCs. Summary of workstations replaced;
  • DHML
  • CTS
  • Engineering
  • OPS
  • EPM office
  • MCS office Driller's PC
• CTShop PC53276 RigWatch PC video went black/blank. No amount of prodding would return video display. Power cycling PC restored video functional. Running system checks kept returning errors. Event Viewer system log on PC showed disk errors. Another symptom was Windows Update would hang upon launch from Windows Control Panel. PC53276 was replaced by PC53278 RigWatch station in CT Shop.
  • This issue does not appear to affect the other deployed RigWatch PCs.
• Removed HP Z420s from Acronis Backup and Recovery server and revoked their licenses per Expedition 371 spreadsheet of shipped-to-shore HP Z420s and those units kept for spares on JR.

MAC Workstations:

• No issues to report about shipboard Mac workstations.
• No issues to report about shipboard Mac VDUs (Video Distribution Units).

Printers:

• Delivered spare part HP M402dn printer display panel to ETs during Expedition 372 portcall. ETs promptly repaired printer and returned printer functional. Repaired printer RF53105 was re-located to Userroom. Originally this printer was located in Underway lab.
• Due to long lead times for surface freight the ALOs requested the MCSs to review our printer supplies and adjust borderline stocks to trigger a reorder. Those items were marked "Free" on their carton(s) and are to be "first used" when reloading consumables on the various printers.
• On 20-Dec Sharp Copier started displaying L4-06 errors and stopped functioning, not able to copy or scan documents. After investigating error message and discussions with shore the transfer unit and belt were cleaned. This did not resolve matter. Shore authorized MCSs to contact vendor for on-site assistance during next portcall. As of this writing, on-site support is in progress.
• Chemists making lab changes required MCSs to move Aft Zebra printer to Alkaline bench in Chemlab. No available ports in printer's new location so a 4 port Netgear switch was installed and cable run to facilitate move.

Satellite/Internet/Phones:

• No incidents to report this expedition for equipment. Due to ship's heading one of domes was off-line at various times for extended periods due to blockage/satellite obstruction.

Other Equipment/Projects:

• Received in freight ten Dell UP3216Q 32" monitors tag #s: 53453 – 53462.
  • Monitor deployments:
    • Eight - Dell 32" monitors were deployed to Core Lab.
    • Six - HP 30" monitors recovered and shipped to shore.
    • Three - HP 30" monitors pulled off the rack in LTDAT and shipped to shore.
    • Two - 32" monitor stands saved on rack for backup.
    • One - Dell 30" monitor moved from CDESC to CENT
• More monitor deployments;
  • Deployed two Dell P2715Q – 4K 27" monitors to Curator's station.
  • Moved two Dell U2713H – 27" monitors from Curator's office to Underway Lab.
  • Deployed Dell P2715Q – 4K 27" monitor to SMAG station with KVM switch.
• Laptop LT53042 was setup for communication and data collection for Omega FMA6705 Flowmeter. However, it was soon discovered that the Flow Meter Communication program used to log data stops data transfer at random times. Multiple personnel became involved. Following are basic chronology of what transpired;
  • Contacted Dean Ferrell for assistance with configuring RS485 COM port to work with flow meter and operational process
  • Discovered at this point software would not run beyond a minute, reinstalled all software relating to flow meter (NI-Max, NI-Serial, LabVIEW Runtime), problem persisted
  • Setup UPS and Plugged UPS into regulated power, no change in status
  • Replaced NI USB-485 serial adapter, , no change in status
  • Replaced AC adapter due to power issues identified with adapter, no change in status
  • Set various timing settings for sampling, error, and logging frequency , no change in status
  • Installed USB hub, no change in status
  • The communication cable was modified to have a termination resistor and added grounding, no change in status
  • Contacted Dean again and got wiring diagram he used for Omega Flowmeter setup on shore
    • How Can I Connect a USB-485 to a Device With Only Three Pins Using the EIA-485 Standard?
    • http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/47B83A8BF108021786257602004FE968
  • Bill Mills (LO) attempted to use LabVIEW to communicate with the flow meter but, no change in status.
  • Built a fresh Windows 10 PC with an RS485 adapter to test with Flow Meter. PC could not talk to the device through the card's serial ports. Tested with the NI USB-Serial adapter on new PC. Got same results as the laptop.
  • Emailed Omega with question regarding possibility of obtaining software that can work around flow meter application disconnecting. No suggestions were offered.
  • Built Dell Precision 4400 laptop and achieved extended running time past 10 hours before experienced stopping error. Final configuration ran for up to 12 hours before stopping due to communication errors. Changed registry buffers resolved matter.
• New procedure for MCSs starting with Expedition 372. MCSs are to collect navigation and seismic line data (Site Survey Data) from TAS technician on shore for delivery to JR. Upon JR MCS to copy this data to VOL1:\SEGY volume-folder location for Downhole technician to administer. Downhole technician is to copy and setup these files onto the Petrel PCs in Core Deck Logging office. This was done for Expedition 372.
• Patrick Edward (shore webmaster) contacted MCSs about his need to troubleshoot an issue with attachments to the cruise evaluation form not being forwarded. MCSs verified that JR email server will accept and deliver emails with attachments. Patrick then reports that a modification to the form.cfg.php file in the "evaluations" folder on JR web server Eiger fixed the attachment problem.
• During routine weekly tape rotation discovered Tape Library displayed error message "8E:09 Mechanical Block" on LCD panel. This error prevents any type of backups to be performed. Investigating the matter observed the tape carrier assembly is misaligned, elevator gear(s) appear to be slipped or stripped. Contacted HP vendor for support and a technician has been scheduled for next portcall in Lyttelton, NZ.
• To mitigate the lack of ability to do daily backups, the End-Of-Expedition copy scripts normally used to copy Uservol and Data1 data to Userroom workstations for scientist's take-me-home has been modified for use as daily backup to MCSPC1.
• Laptop LT52336 had a physical defective USB port. Laptop was package in freight for shore, to be surplus.
• LTDAT AC belt broke on 26-Dec. Belt replaced by Siem.

UNDERWAY GEOPHYSICS LAB

KEITH DUPUIS, ALOs and LO

Summary

Underway data were transmitted and recorded to WinFrog (v3.10.17) on the "WinFrog1" computer.
The SeaSpy magnetometer was deployed for ~9 days during the 15-day transit to the first site. It was retrieved briefly in the Bass Strait between Australia and Hobart. The magnetometer was redeployed in the Tasman Sea and retrieved before passing between the North and South island of New Zealand. The figure in the Navigation section shows the ships track (Moonpool) recorded by the Aft and F'wd Trimble GPS (red) and the magnetometer track (white.)
The new BOB software receives and records the magnetometer data. A short sample of data were collected as a .csv file. We were unable to record the offset GPS from WinFrog1 into the same file with the total magnetic field, or any file, using BOB. SeaLink was used pending a resolution to GPS – BOB recording issue. SeaLink also had issues recording GPS towards the end of the Maggie deployment (after about a day in the Tasman Sea.)
Bathymetric data was logged using the Bathy2010 software on WinFrog2 during transits and used to determine the seafloor depths on-site.
The following Underway Geophysics technician User Guides were updated as of this writing (others may also get completed this Expedition.) I plan to send the updated User Guides to LO/ALO and shore (probably as we sail into Lyttelton.):

• WinFrog Cookbook
• Maggie QUG
• Navigation

Navigation data were logged by the WinFrog (v3.10.17) software on the "WinFrog1" computer throughout the Expedition. Site fix averaging were performed (Listed in the Site Fix table.)

Figure 1 Expedition 372 Transit (red line) with magnetometer tow track (white line.)

Bathy/Chirp

Bathymetric data were logged using the Bathy2010 software (3.5 kHz) on WinFrog2 during transits and to determine the seafloor depths on-site. Three transects of Bathy data were recorded. The first transit was broken into two sections, because the pinger/chirp was turned off while transiting in the Bass Straits. The transit from U1517 to U1518 was not recorded. The Bathy2010 data files collected for each transit are summarized in table. The PDR results for each Site are also listed in the separate Water Depths table. The 12kHz transducer was tested while performing the PDR at Site U1518.

magnetometer

The SeaSpy was deployed ~8.7 days of the 15 day transit to the first site. It was retrieved 09-Dec-2017 00:47:20 GMT, because it was not towed in the Bass Straits (b/w Australia and Tasmania.) It was redeployed in the Tasman Sea 10-Dec-2017 03:23:57 GMT (see map Figure.)

There were issues with the magnetometer synchronizing to the GPS. This affected the time-stamp and coordinates of the logged magnetometer data after ~ 10-Dec. The magnetic field seems OK. When the errors occurred (i.e. the pop-up error), SeaLink software would stop recording and plotting the data. It would pause until the error window was acknowledged (click OK.) After acknowledging the error message, the data appeared to "dump", as if it were holding all the measurements somewhere, pausing the plotting and recording. It was obvious the data were dumping, because the plot and terminal display would update extremely faster than the 0.3Hz sampling rate. Upon inspection of the raw data, it appears the data dump would use an unknown time-stamp (possibly, because it was not properly synced with the GPS.) There are magnetometer data, but the time-stamp is not sequential/chronological and it does not have an offset Lat/Lon associated with the data (see plot of the time stamp for the first few days (left) vs. the final few days (right.)) The time-stamp for the last few days is erratic and non-continuous.

Although a GPS Sync error often appears when initially deploying the Maggie. This error has been reported in the past, however only at the initial deployment of the magnetometer. I don't believe it has affected the data logging in previous cases. The issue in this case appears to be different based on the data log file. The Maggie connections were recently switched from direct RS232-PC to National Instruments RS232-USB router. This was also a relatively long deployment and the logging/GPS sync. error did not occur until after ~6+ days of deployment and data collection.
In hindsight, the Maggie and PC could have been powered-down and restarted while it was still towed. This action was not performed.

Fan Tail/G-Guns

No VSP's were conducted this cruise.

Magnetometer Winch

The control linkage to the hydraulic motor appears to have slipped between deployments (no issues reported) and when we attempted to retrieve magnetometer. The result was that when the system was powered on it began to payout the line at full speed. The control had to be placed fully in the opposite direction before we could stop the drum. Mike Mering reset the linkage and tuned up the level wind electronics and the motor controller. In addition, he adjusted the stops on the fleet angle arm so that the magnet did not move past the sensing area of the Hall Effect sensor. When this happens, the correction signal would drop to zero and the level wind would stop slewing.
Toward the end of the expedition, we installed and tuned the new control board Forum Industries. We did several test runs and the level winds works without manualintervention.
A portable 12V camera and monitor system was delivered out to the ship. The plan is to use magnetic bases to setup the cameras when the winch is in use. We are ordering rechargeable 12V batteries to avoid having to wire the system and we need to weld a bracket to the overhead to mount the camera over the drum.
A new manual controller for the level wind was installed. Please note that the abort button the controller is not functional. Hopefully, we can get this wired up in the near future.

VSP System

The colored tape which defines the VSP air-gun wiring, were replaced and/or modified to include plastic zip-ties. The color scheme is the same.
New 4-point synthetic straps with S.S.shackles were received. The harnesses were inspected and marked by SIEM crew/crane operators for their approval. The harnesses are planned to replace the 4-point chain systems used to hoist the parallel G-Guns and GI gun. We plan to test and document the new harness hoist setup during Exp375.
DownHole LAB
KEITH DUPUIS

Overview

The DHML PC was reconfigured by the MCS. The TPFit was reinstalled from the ships web-link (LIMS Tools.) WinTemp worked the same, but was switched to the non-operator mode. It was switched back to Operator mode for automatic download of the data.

APCT3

Data were collected at one Site/Hole (U1517C) using Tool(s) 1858005 and 1858007.
APCT3 Deployments and Inventory:

• 1858002C Calibrated:
• 1858005C Calibrated: JUN17 Due: JUN18
• 1858007C Calibrated: MAR17 Due: MAR18
• 1858032C Calibrated: OCT17 Due: OCT18 (received at Port Call)
  Tool 1858032 was received at port call. The Calibration Certificates and .cal files were refreshed from shore on the Downhole PC (C:/Antares/Cal.) The calibration certificate folder was cleaned (deleted .cal files and certificates for tools not on the ship.)
  There are two new APCT-3 cutting shoes (OP4375) on the ship. We do not have Subs that fit the new APCT-3 cutting shoes.
  

  TP-Fit

  Staff estimated the equilibrium temperature after downloading the APCT-3 temperature data. One of the downhole scientists also performed an analysis. The Scientists analyses were uploaded to LIMS using the TPFIT Uploader application.
  

  Wireline Logging

  Logging data were collected while drilling. Three extra Schlumberger engineers, plus our regular staff SLB Engineer, were onboard this cruise. The data transferred to/from Lamont and the ship with no issues.
  The raw wireline data were collected by SLB. They provided raw and processed data from Holes U1517A, U1518A,B, U1519A, U1520A and U1520B. The logging scientists placed the preliminary files in a folder on USERVOL ("All_LWD_Data".) These data were transferred to Lamont using the "Yellowstone" transfer drive. The processed data that came back from Lamont were posted to: "ALL_LWD_Data/FromLDEO" for access.
  A spreadsheet was created to help log the files transferred to/from Lamont. It was copied to data1. All the files from USERVOL "ALL_LWD_DATA" were copied to data1.
  

  Software

  There were Scientists on this cruise with extensive knowledge and experience using Techlog and Petrel. They created their own templates for plotting downhole data. They analyzed the logging data extensively (compared to normal Expeditions.) The two Downhole PC's were used extensively.
  

  Core-Log-Seismic Integration (CLSI)

  There were a large amount of public/released SEGY data available around the Sites. The files in the IODP SSDB were posted to NOVARUPTA (network drive) by the MCS. The "released" SEGY files were copied to the Downhole PCs. The co-chief had specific prepared/modified SEGY files and time-depth relations that he wanted to use for the Expedition 372/375 core data (x375 is a related/continuation of this Expedition.) The SEGY files were also copied to the Logging Archive external drive which is currently kept in the top locked drawer at the Port side Logging PC. The co-chief on this cruise (Phil B.) plans to sail as a CLSI Scientist on x375. He ask that some files be kept onboard and ready for CLSI on Expedition 375. The location is TBD at the moment (possibly x372 USERVOL.)
  

  ENGINEERING EXP 372 Nov 2017-Jan 2018.

  Mike Meiring
  
  

  ENGINEERING

  Overview:

  The main Engineering activity on this expedition was deployment of the T2P/ERS/MDHDS/ and SETP.
  Deployment of MDHDS to be covered by Mechanical Eng report, BobA.
  Also read report by B Dugan on T2P deployment.
  Two T2P deployments were made. Both deployments were successfully delivered by the ERS, but had to be retrieved by coreline. The first T2P deployment returned useful pressure data, but the thermistor tip was destroyed when formation was penetrated.
  The second deployment started normal and useful data was probably recorded, but the tool was damaged and partially flooded, when the entire tapered probe went missing. It also had to be retrieved via coreline. Retrieval by Coreline has now become common and reason for that need to be investigated and addressed.
  Two SETP deployments were performed in Hole U1715D. Data from the first deployment were lost when a file was accidentally overwritten. Data from the second deployment were corrupted. To be investigated.
  The ERS performed as designed and Hall-effect proximity sensor worked well.

  VIT System:

  
  h9.OPTICAL LINK INTEGRITY:

• OTDR measurements are periodically made on the spare Brown Fiber from DP to the VIT Frame J-Box. Compared against measurements from previous Expeditions, this could be an early indication of potential issues especially on the FORJ and Umbilical.

• OTDR measurements on the BRN fiber shows no evidence of optical link degradation.

CAMERA-Field Of View (FOW):

• A "SEARCH" camera with a wide FOW will simplify re-entries and save time. The Re-Entry cam has a FOW of only 57deg which offers a very limited area of visibility when searching and maneuvering to re-enter a hole. The half-intensity point of the ROS LED lights are 90deg. Search camera should have a FOW between 90 and 110deg. A NTSC camera offers better sensitivity than HD counterparts and will also improve system redundancy. For this reason, it is suggested that we source a NTSC camera with 90-110deg FOW and infinite focus setting. We could utilize existing pressure vessels.

CAMERA-INFINITY FOCUS:

• INFINITY FOCUS:
• The optically altered windows on the camera pressure vessels did not support Infinity focus and Zoom functionality for the Sony HD Block cameras. The windows were removed, the convex shape milled flat and polished. All camera pressure vessels now have optically neutral windows, allowing camera functions like Zoom and Infinity focus to operate normally. Infinity Focus option was added by the HD-VIT control software and this is the preferred setting. This will eliminate focus hunting and the focusing on a dirt spot on the pressure vessel window.

Convex window, optically altered Flat window, optically neutral

ALTIMETER:

• While on-deck, the Altimeter reading was a steady 50M. Once deployed in the water column, random erratic readings were displayed which only stabilized at ~40M from seabed. Readings then appeared normal.
• The altimeter is interfering with the sonar. Extent of interference appears to be significant in the SONAR low range but actual interference will only be known once workings of sonar is better known. Switching power to the altimeter may have to be considered

SONAR:

• We experimented with sonar settings during both deployments. Settings to display the circular reflection from seafloor are better understood. Area within this circle represents the sonar blind spot. The radius of this area is very similar to the height of the sonar (VIT Frame) above the seafloor. In image below, the sonar altitude was ~14m, similar to the range of the first seafloor reflection ~14m.
• Locating targets on seafloor will require some experience with sonar settings. This can only be achieved with practice over time with known targets at various distances from the sonar. Severity of Altimeter interference to be determined.

!worddavb49c02974eafb9c7778fb637ed471d15.png|height=305,width=321!Seafloor reflection Altimeter interference (Low F)

• Altimeter is a source of interference to the sonar. The extent of interference will only be known when we become familiar with the sonar operation, however, indications are that it could be significant. Image above shows a screenshot at 385khz (Low), however, interference is also evident at the HIGH F

GENERAL MAINTENANCE:

• Periodically flushed connectors on VIT-frame with fresh water and sprayed with silicon water repellant/lubricator.
• Exercised FO Fusion splicing equipment and charged batteries.Performed OTDR check on BRN fiber.
• Brackets to fit Bowtek LED lights to VIT Frame holders for emergency use delivered without counterbore. Request EricS to update dwgs. Will modify hardware locally.
• VIT System serviceable and ready for deployment.

RIGWATCH

GENERAL MAINTENANCE:

• Altered 2-point Formula on the HEAVE variable to read heave similar to Siem DP-MRU.
• Request MCS to remove Rigwatch application from DHML PC. Dongle 8082 now Spare.
• Connector received for draw-works encoder wrong. See e-mail JvH 12/10/2017
• Setup WITS data feed for LWD Schlumberger eng.
• Setup Livecap for science personnel.

DOWNHOLE TOOLS

SETP

• Received both SETP, S/N1 and 2. Inserted battery in tool S/N2 and confirmed tool was serviceable by recording and uploading data in test file.
• Following a deployment in Hole U1517D, comms was established with the CDAQ and data converted to ASCII and uploaded to PC. The converted ASCII data file (U1517D) had corrupted temp/press readings. Accelerometer readings were normal. The ADTEMP.DAT file in CDAQ appeared to be corrupted. Tool to be left onboard for further investigation. Find data in Data1
• SETP S/N1 to be returned to CS and stored until required..

SET

• Removed SET S/N5 CDAQ and modified for a spare T2P CDAQ.
• Returned S/N5 to CS.

APCT3

• Received 2 x new cutting shoes from CS. Both shoes have dimensional issues and have difficulty screwing onto the sub. They will be returned for replacement. Ongoing issues with shoe dimensions. CS has problem with shoe dimensions in hand. Expect good shoes to arrive in future.
• Received APCT3 S/N 32 from CS.

T2P

PRE DEPLOYMENT:

• Received 2 x T2P kits from TU. Assembled tools from scratch and tested as serviceable.
• Performed SHUTDOWN mod on both tools. Replaced all 3p Fischer Comms connectors with 5p connectors to support the SHTDN function. Peter Polito to supply IE4M SHTDN connectors. Wiring diagrams were updated and forwarded to PeterP.
• Terminated 5p Fischer connectors to 4 x new pressure txd's.
• 4 x PRESS TXD's (old) leads to short. Good for spares.5p Fischer connectors on three of these were used to replace 3p connectors on the comms cables to support SHTDN function.
• No serviceable spare thermistors.
• HP Pump failed.
• Three of the four new split cables are faulty, probably in 19p Fischer connectors.
• Tool 1: CDAQ S/N 12, Thermistor 5, Tip txd 4-89, Shaft txd 4-90.
• Tool 2: CDAQ S/N 13, Thermistor 2, Tip txd 9-36, Shaft txd 9-31.
• Modified CDAQ S/N3 from SET tool S/N 5, for T2P spare and attached 5p Comms connector.
• 2 X PERSISTORS included as spare..
• Both tools pressure tested and ready for deployment.

FIRST DEPLOYMENT TOOL 1:

• T2P DEPLOYMENT HOLE U1517D
• DEPTH: 80M
• 12/31/2017 GMT
• T2P TOOL 1: CDAQ S/N 12
• THERMISTOR TIP 5
• TIP PRESS TXD 4-89, SHAFT TXD 4-90
• ERS TOOL 1
• 21:18Start T2P DATALOGGER
• 21:32MOVE TO RIGFLOOR.
• 21:40FUNCTION CHECK ERS. Ok.
• 22:11ERS SNAPPED IN AND LOCKED "TOOL PRESENT" LED ON.
• 22:13START DOWN.
• 22:33500.4M STOP ERS OK
• 22:37START DOWN
• 22:44STOP SEAFLOOR 717M
• 22:47START DOWN ERS OK
• 22:53LANDED 798M
• 22:55ERS RELEASED MDHDS AND PULLED UP TO 793M
• 22:58PUMPS ON TO SHEAR PINS 780PSI
• 23:04PUMPS ON FORCE INTO FORMATION 800PSI.
• 23:52LOWERED ERS IN ATTEMPT TO LATCH ONTO mdhds for retrieval.
• 00:00 01/01/2018 HAPPY NEW YEAR!
• 00:05MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS MADE TO LATCH ONTO MDHDS, UNSUCCESSFUL.
• SPECULATION ARISE THAT SHEARPINS NEVER SHEARED AND TOOL DID NOT STROKE OUT.
• 00:11PUMPED TO 1200PSI TO ATTEMPT SHEARING PINS.
• 00:17UNFAMILIAR REACTIONS TO PUMP ACTIVITY?? CONCENSUS THAT PINS MAY HAVE NOW SHEARED AND THAT TOOL MAY BE DEPLOYED IN FORMATION.
• 00:22PUMPED FOR 10 MIN TO CLEAR HOLE.
• 00:33STAY FOR 45MIN ASSUMING WE ARE IN FORMATION.
• 01:10MULTIPLE ATEMPTS TO LATCH ONTO HDMS TO RETRIEVE UNSUCCESSFUL.
• 01:26RETRIEVE ERS/WIRELINE TO SURFACE.
• 02:07ERS ON SURFACE. FUNCTION-CHECK ERS AND FOUND OPERATION NORMAL. ATTEMPT WILL NOW BE MADE TO RETRIEVE T2P/MDHDS VIA CORELINE.
• 03:03T2P/MDHDS RETRIEVED.

OBSERVATIONS MADE: (Read with reports from B AduddeLl and B Dugan

• It appeared that pins did not shear at 750psi pump pressure as circulation could not be established. Pressure was increased to ~1200psi which sheared the pins.
• On retrieval, ERS could not reach to attach to MDHDS. Observation from Schlumberger engineer indicated that it hung up at same depth the MDHDS was landed, indicating that the ERS probably could not enter outer barrel of MDHDS.
• Retrieval of MDHDS had to be performed via coreline. This was done from the outer barrel which requires the stroked out inner rod and T2P tool assembly to be pulled through the flapper valve.
• Onboard, the Tip thermistor and small porous ring were absent. Data later indicated this occurred at formation penetration.
• CDAQ returned pressure data. Temperature data was recorded until thermistor were sheared at penetration.

SECOND DEPLOYMENT TOOL 2:

• CDAQ S/N 13, THERMISTOR 2, TIP TXD 4-89, SHAFT TXD 4-90
• DEPTH 120M
• SECOND DEPLOYMENT HOLE U1517D
• 01/01/2018
• 08:07START T2P CDAQ.
• 09:11Start T2P DOWN
• 09:35STOP 485M
• 09:38START DOWN.
• 09:56LAND ON SHOULDER 839M
• 09:57ERS RELEASE, PULL UP 10M
• 10:02PUMP TO SHEAR 1170PSI
• 10:04RELEASE PRESS.
• 10:06PUMP TO DEPLOY 200PSI. DEPLOYMENT APPEARED NORMAL, STAY IN FORMATION FOR 45MIN
• 10:55ATTEMPT TO RETRIEVE T2P. FAIL TO ATTACH TO MDHDS WITH ERS. MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS WERE MADE WITHOUT SUCCESS.
• 11:25RETRIEVE ERS/WIRELINE
• 12:00 ERS ON DECK.
• MDHDS/T2P HAD TO BE RETRIEVED WITH CORELINE.

OBSERVATIONS MADE:

• .Positioning of MDHDS and release via ERS was normal.
• At 1200psi pump pressure, shearing of pins was normal.
• Retrieval was the same as deployment 1 above.
• Significant over pull and jarring action had to be applied to recover T2P through flapper valve.
• On deck it was discovered that the complete T2P Tip was missing, compromising the seal to the drive-tube, which then flooded.
• Damage to tool may have been avoided if the fishing was done from MDHDS inner rod, rather than from the outer barrel. RS-Overshot damaged on Exp 362.

T2P Tip missing Damaged flapper valve

• Fischer comms connector in rear of tool were found unmated, probably due to forces by jarring action. The battery was disconnected and connectors flushed with Isopropyl alcohol. When connected to Hyper Terminal, tool responded with error 2601, see image. When disconnected from 15 pin MDM Input connector, it responded with "CF2> Privilege violation". Deployment data may still be resident in memory. Also see image above of damage to flapper valve.

CDAQ S/N 13 Response.
POST DEPLOYMENT, EXPEDITION-END ACTIONS:

• Both serviceable thermistors, one per tool, were destroyed.
• CDAQ S/N 13 PERSISTOR (Tool2) responds with error message. May still contain deployment data. Attempt should be made to recover.
• Purchase and wire IE4M connectors for "SHUTDWN" function.
• 19 p Fischer Split cables to be repaired/rewired.
• Keep in mind that Tool 2 drive-tube end with connectors got flooded with seawater. Connectors were flushed with Isopropyl alcohol following the deployment.
• Tools were partially dis assembled, cleaned and packed to be shipped.

ERS

• Both tools serviceable, tested and ready for deployment.
• Hall-effect proximity detector to indicate "Tool Presence" worked satisfactory.
• Tool 1 was deployed. Following the deployment, tool was flushed with freshwater and prepared for storage.
• Although ERS functioned as designed, it could not reach to latch to MDHDS to retrieve T2P.

JR TOOL INVENTORY

• APCT3 TOOL S/N 23 RETURNED END Exp 369
• APCT3 TOOL S/N 32 RECEIVED START Exp 372

APCT-3: SET2:S/N 539 ERS:S/N 1
1858002 S/N 540 S/N 2
1858007
1858032 SETP:S/N 02
1858005

SHIPPING RECEIVED:

• APCT3 S/N 32
• SETP S/N 1 and S/N 2

SHIPPING RETURNED:

• SET S/N 5
• SETP S/N 1
• 2 X APCT3 cutting shoes.
• T2P Tools;

POTENTIAL TASKS FOR FUTURE Engineering Leg:

• Reserve time to explore Sonar operation.
• Run a new wide Field of View NTSC camera to improve Search/Re-entry capability.
• VIT Thruster for rotational positioning of frame around drill string.
• Resolve deployment method of T2P.

ACTION ITEMS:

• Fit U/W coax connectors (OV0840) to Pod S/N 2 and both NTSC cameras. Still waiting on connectors. MikeM
• Pod S/N 1: Bypass thermal switch on the 2 x QUINT P-Supply fans. Waiting on above MikeM
• RPO for a new Camera monitoring VIT Winch level wind.
• Re-order draw works encoder connector. JvH
• Requested Engineering change on ERS/MDHDS fishneck (OT7084) to prevent sand from accumulating in cavity. JvH
• Awaiting special RS-Overshot for retrieving MDHDS on Inner rod.

ENGINEERING Pressure Coring MDHDS

BOB ADDUDELL

PCS (Pressure Core System)

Latch Assembly: Each piece of the assembly had the threads cleaned and lubricated, and the two Quick Release connections were lubricated and function tested. The space out was measured and verified. The XCB latch was function tested to verify the Latch Dogs functioned properly, and then the drop ball was loaded in to the collet and the assembly was set aside in its 3 long sections.
Actuator Assemblies: The two actuators had been assembled and function tested good before shipping, but this was repeated on board. The outer barrels were removed, and the latch reset and the release reset tools were used to cycle the actuator. The data sub was attached to the bearing sub, and the outer barrel replaced and tightened. Each actuator was then set aside.
Pressure Barrel Assemblies: The three pressure barrels were assembled and tested good before shipping, but this was also repeated on board. Each assembly had its outer barrel removed and the seals inspected, then after reassembly each pressure barrel was pressure tested. Each barrel held pressure, and then were set aside. The three microsmart pressure transducer carriers, as well as the connection that would be used to attach to the degas manifold was also tested to 2500 psi and passed.
Degas Manifold: The degas manifold was set up and instrumented with pressure gauges and a flow meter. The arrangement of the manifold was changed several times at the direction of the attending scientist, and the final configuration was pressure tested using compressed Nitrogen and proved to be leak free.
Time did not permit running the PCS tools, and the assemblies were sent back to be disassembled for storage in College Station. The degas manifold was also disassembled and returned.

MDHDS (Motion Decoupled Hydraulic Delivery System):

The MDHDS was run twice to deliver the T2P tool for measurements. Prior to running the tool, the MDHDS was removed from its storage shuck and placed on the bridge deck. The latch assembly was removed from the tool and disassembled to verify the seals were good and that no deterioration was caused from storage in the shuck. The tool proved to be fine, and all o-rings and sealing surfaces were in excellent condition. The tool was reassembled, and latched using new shear screws, and placed back in its storage shuck.
For the initial deployment, the MDHDS was laid out on the rig floor, and the storage caps removed, and the latch cap was placed on the upper end of the tool. The T2P was attached to the tool, and the flapper guide tube was put in place. There were no issues in the attachment of the ERS or running the tool down to the landing seat. The current deployment instructions call for a pressure of 750 psi to shear the screws, and then a maximum of 750 psi to push the T2P into the formation. The pumps were run until 750 psi was reached, and held for one minute, and then the pressure was bled off and two minutes were spent with the tool only seeing hydrostatic pressure. The pumps were then started again and brought up to 750 psi to push the tool into the formation. Circulation was never established, but the tool was still left for 45 minutes in the formation. During this time it was determined that 750 psi was not enough to shear the pins, and it was decided to repeat the test. The pumps were brought up to 1100 psi and held for one minute, and then bled off for a two minute dwell. The pumps were then started in order to push out the tool, and circulation was established at 500 psi. While pumping, the pressure would rise to 500 psi, and suddenly drop to 0; only to rise back to 500 psi and again drop to 0. No explanation could be determined, although this event did correspond with heave, and it was decided to raise the drill string 2 meters per the instructions. Full circulation was established after this, and the strange pressure variations disappeared. The tool was allowed to sit for 40 minutes to gather data.
At the conclusion of the dwell, the ERS was lowered to attach to the MDHDS. Many attempts were made, but there was no success in mating to the tool. The wireline operator concluded, based on his depth measurements that the ERS never got past the latch cap and into the MDHDS. The clearance between the OD of the ERS and the ID of the latch cap is approximately 1/8" per side, and allows practically no deviation from vertical in order for the ERS to pass through. It was then decided to retrieve the MDHDS in the fully stroked condition, using a 4" GS cup on the core line. The latch cap of the MDHDS has a mating profile for a 4" GS.
The core line and tool were lowered, and successfully mated to the MDHDS, but the trouble began as soon as the MDHDS was raised enough for the flapper guide tube to clear the flapper valve. The T2P has several diameter changes and square shoulders, and these were catching on the flapper as the tool was raised. It was initially thought that pumping hard could hold the flapper open, but a design problem was discovered. When fully stroked (the inner rod all the way down inside the barrel with the fishing neck landed on the outer barrel crossover) the MDHDS is sealed and circulation through it is not possible. As there was no way to pump enough volume around the outside of the tool, the only method of retrieving the T2P through the flapper was by using the sliding hammer jars above the GS cup as well as over pull. The T2P was eventually freed, after much effort, by using an over pull of 11,000 lbs as well as the jars.
When the MDHDS reached the surface, it was immediately obvious that the bottom tip of the T2P was missing. The MDHDS was placed in the shuck and a mechanical RS was lowered into the tool and in an attempt to attach to the inner rod. The inner barrel was found to be mostly filled with clay, and because of the seal formed when the inner rod is fully stroked, the inner rod was pushed up from the bottom to allow the clay and water to drain out. The mechanical RS could then be lowered and attached to the fishing neck of the inner rod, but the inner rod would not stroke completely up. The latch dogs of the MDHDS had also somehow lodged into the locked position and prevented the inner rod from stroking to the top of the tool. The MDHDS/T2 was then laid out on the rig floor. The T2P was removed and transferred to the lab for downloading of data. There was obvious damage to the quick connect used to attach the MDHDS to the T2P, and this was dressed using a hand file. The MDHDS was laid out on the rig floor and taken apart (outer barrel and the inner rod) in order to remove the latch section. The latch section was taken to the downhole lab, disassembled, and put back into running condition. The latch assembly suffered no apparent damage, and all seals were good.
The MDHDS was reassembled and cocked with shear screws. The second deployment of the second T2P (the initial tool being too damaged to reuse) went almost exactly as the first. The tool was lowered onto the seat in the BHA, and pressured to 1100 psi. After releasing the pressure and holding for two minutes, the tool was pushed into the formation. After raising the BHA 2 meters, full circulation was establish. The T2P was allowed to sit for 45 minutes with no rotation, and once again an attempt was made to use the ERS to retrieve the T2P. As before, the wireline operator was unable to get the ERS past the latch cap (per his depth measurements) at the top of the MDHDS, and the 4" GS on the coring line was used to attach to the MDHDS. Once again, the T2P got hung up in the flapper. The tool was finally freed by using almost 13,000 lbs of over pull and use of the sliding hammer jar. Once to the surface, the lower section of the T2P was missing, and upon closer examination it proved to have unthreaded. The lock dogs of the MDHDS were once again in the locked position, and disassembly of the MDHDS was required to fix this this. It was concluded that the jarring used to free the T2P had caused the shear screw head sleeve to move back to its locked position.

CDS/SET-P:

Two deployments of the SET-P were made using the Colletted Delivery System (CDS), and mechanically there were no issues. See Tech Report for information concerning dtat issues with these tools.

Conclusions/Recommendations:

1. The square shoulders and step diameter changes of the T2P quick connect needs to be addressed. These shoulders catch on the flapper, and damage to the flapper (as well as the T2P) was evident when the BHA was retrieved at the end of this leg.
2. The MDHDS fishing neck seals on the crossover when the tool is fully stroked, preventing any circulation. This needs to be corrected, possibly by adding flutes to the OD of the fishing neck?
3. The small clearance between the OD of the ERS and the ID of the latch cap makes the insertion of the ERS problematic, even more so when the MDHDS is fully stroked and the tool sealed. With the MDHDS sealed, the only path for the water to displace when the ERS is lowered is past the ERS OD, this acts to resist the ERS entering the tool.
4. The bottom face of the ERS and the top face of the latch cap are both square shoulders. Adding a taper to one or the other, as well as a modification to prevent sealing the tool, should allow the ERS to more easily enter the MDHDS.