February 18, 2005 BSU Crew On Scientific Expedition In Remote Ocean Stretch Sends Dispatches Via Satellite Link, Solicits Questions

A crew of Boise State University scientists and students who are on a 41-day voyage to one of the most remote stretches of ocean on Earth are sending back live dispatches and photos via a satellite link and soliciting questions from Idahoans about their adventure.   The public can read their first-person accounts, see pictures of life aboard ship and submit questions to the crew at http://news.boisestate.edu/oceanvoyage.    BSU scientists Mitchell Lyle and Lee Liberty and graduate students Brandi Murphy and Christopher Paul are on an expedition to the remote southernmost Pacific as part of a $318,211 grant from the National Science Foundation awarded to BSU. Students and researchers from the University of Michigan, Texas A&M, Indiana University and Oregon State University are also part of the expedition.   Their mission: to identify drill sites beneath the ocean floor for future studies of the very warm Eocene time period of 34-55 million years. Scientists are increasingly interested in understanding these ancient climate patterns because they offer insights into current climate conditions, including the effects of global warming.   The crew set sail earlier this month aboard the research vessel Melville from Papeete, Tahiti. Before they return to port on March 21, they will have traversed more than 1,000 miles of open seas. Much of that time will be spent in latitudes nicknamed the “Roaring 40s” and “Screaming 50s” where  there are no continents to block the wind and rough seas are common.   So far, the crew is settling in well aboard ship. “Every mile is a whole new discovery, a horizon never witnessed prior to that moment. That excitement is an easy trade for living in a 279-foot-long world for six weeks,” writes Paul a few days after leaving port.   Adds Murphy: “The food is great, a lot of seafood. Neither Chris nor I have gotten anything but very mild seasickness which is a pleasant surprise.”   Lyle, a paleoceanographer and co-chief scientist for the expedition, writes about sailing over the Louisville Ridge, which is very similar to the Hawaiian Islands except that it is covered by 3,000-10,000 feet of water. “Right now, at dawn, the sea is blessedly calm. It looks like what you would see off Oregon on a windless fall day,” Lyle writes.   The BSU crews say they hope Idahoans of all ages will submit questions via the Web site about their expedition that they can answer in subsequent dispatches. “It’s a great way to stay connected with home,” Lyle says. -30-   Media Contact: Janelle Brown, communications and marketing, (208) 426-1790, jbrown2@boisestate.edu Online at: http://news.boisestate.edu.