One of the interesting things about sampling and studying the deep ocean is that all instruments and collection devices must continue to operate at great depth. Electronic packages must be water tight and sensors must survive the intense pressure of seawater up to 5000 meters. Since pressure increases roughly 1 atmosphere for every 10 meters depth, this is 500 times the pressure at sea level. One of the best ways to really understand this has become an oceanographers favorite "cruise souvenir" activity. When a mesh bag containing styrofoam cups is tied to the Rosette, the air is squeezed from the styrofoam at depth and they return as miniature versions of themselves. We decorated cups for the 4th grade Chase Street Elementary class as part of our NSF outreach and will visit the class with the results. The pictures below are the "before" and "after" documentation with a couple of Sharpies for reference. A very interesting way to create a novel expresso cup, don't ya think?
- Bill
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