Scientists warn against losing a crucial research ship: The National Science Foundation ‘has betraye

[Suppressed]

Scientists warn against losing a crucial research ship: The National Science Foundation ‘has betrayed us’
By Ben Guarino May 7 at 7:00 AM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/05/07/scientists-warn-against-losing-a-crucial-research-ship-nsf-has-betrayed-us
 

(Bob Vergaras/A.P.S. for Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory)


Marine scientists are bracing for the loss of the world-class research vessel Marcus G. Langseth. The National Science Foundation plans to sell the 235-foot ship in 2020, according to a "Dear Colleague" letter published on the agency's website last month. Without a vessel to replace the Langseth, ocean seismologists fear their field will suffer.

“We’re not trying to save the Langseth at all costs,” said James Austin, a geoscientist at the University of Texas at Austin. “We’re trying to save deep-ocean crustal imaging.”

Deep-ocean crustal imaging is where the Langseth excels. It is no ordinary ship. Its sophisticated array of pneumatic guns generates a blast that bounces off the Earth's crust and penetrates dozens of miles into the planet. Unspooled behind the ship, miles of cables strung with microphones capture the blast's reflection. This sonic bounce creates maps of mid-ocean-ridge magma chambers and tectonic plate edges, features that are otherwise difficult, if not impossible, to survey.

“There really aren't any comparable vessels that are available to academic scientists,” said geophysicist Douglas Wiens, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis and chair of the Iris Consortium, a network of 100-plus universities that collect seismological data.

[...]

[Oceander]

Then perhaps the researchers who use it, and their universities, can buy it. 

[Joe Wooten]

Then perhaps the researchers who use it, and their universities, can buy it.

What a novel idea!!

Who'd a thunk it! Not depending upon Uncle Sugar for everything......