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CTD rosette being either launched or recovered.

CTD rosette being either launched or recovered.
CTD rosette being either launched or recovered.
CTD rosette being either launched or recovered.
CTD rosette being either launched or recovered.
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75158
Linder, Christopher
CTD rosette being either launched or recovered.
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09/11/2007
graphics/agave2/cl_20070705_agave07_ctd_003.jpg
CTDs also can be loaded with sensors to measure particles and certain chemicals in seawater, which are both telltale signs of fluids that spew out of hydrothermal vents on the seafloor. The CTD is the first tool in the scientists' toolbox to look for plumes of hydrothermal fluids. Once they find a plume, scientists can then track the plumes back to the vents that generated them.
Caption from Oceanus magazine, Vol. 46, No. 2, Pg. 22:
For oceanographers, the thermometer and smoke detector hanging down is called a CTD, which measures conductivity (salinity) and temperature at various depths. This tried-and-true instrument is scientists' first tool to look for hydrothermal plumes. The CTD is lowered all the way to the bottom and pulled up again while it is also towed by the ship, which researchers call a "tow-yo." CTD sensors detect slightly warmer temperatures, mineral particles, and certain chemicals–all telltale signs that the CTD has passed through a plume. "It's hit or miss," said University of Texas marine geochemist Hedy Edmonds, who headed CTD operations on the expedition. Still, with a little luck and a lot of experience, over many CTD casts, scientists constructed a map (right, not shown here) of water over the seafloor, showing areas (yellow and red) with suspected plume fluids.
Photo by Chris Linder
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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