A University of Hawaii professor says her role in Academy Award-winning director James Cameron’s historic dive to the ocean’s deepest point is the highlight of her career.
"This was really a culmination of 35 years of work. It was the most exciting thing that I’ve ever done in my academic career," said Patty Fryer, professor of geology and geophysics at the UH-Manoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.
"Being part of something that truly transforms our entire approach on how we can do that sort of science, it was an honor and a thrill," Fryer said,
Patty Fryer:
During James
Cameron’s dive, she
said, "I was, in a sense,
a glorified tour guide,
but a geological one"
Fryer was an integral part of Cameron’s March 26 dive to the Challenger Deep, the deepest part within the Mariana region of the Pacific Ocean. With the assistance of his team, Cameron became the first person to perform a solo dive to the site. In January 1960, Navy submariner Don Walsh and Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard were the first to reach the Challenger Deep in the submersible Trieste.
Last July, Cameron’s team sought Fryer’s expertise on the Mariana region — about 200 miles southwest of Guam and about 4,000 miles from Hawaii — as well as her input on the submersible he designed for the dive.
Fryer has spent many years studying the Mariana Trench. The most fascinating thing, she said, is that it’s the only place where mud volcanoes erupt material made up of ground-up pieces of the earth’s mantle and subducting plates.
DOCUMENTARY AIRS SUNDAY
The National Geographic Channel will air a documentary Sunday on Cameron’s dive: "James Cameron: Voyage to the Bottom of the Earth." In Hawaii it will be shown on Oceanic Time Warner Cable at 6, 6:30, 9 and 9:30 p.m., on channels 347 and 1347. |
Susan White, superintendent of Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, which is managed from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services’ Honolulu office, described Fryer as "one of the world’s, if not the world’s, leading expert of the Mariana Trench."
Fryer advised Cameron on the type of equipment needed on the submersible to collect samples and the type of equipment capable to obtain good images. "He was so knowledgeable and so quick to understand the geological questions that I was interested in seeing answered," she said.
In mid-December, Cameron invited Fryer to Sydney to see the progress on the construction of his submersible, Deepsea Challenger. Fryer was impressed, she said, adding that the vehicle is unique and transformative in terms of changing the way submersibles are designed to allow efficient descent and ascent from the deepest point of the earth as well as to allow an explorer to spend more time on the seafloor. Cameron spent about three hours there, much longer than Walsh and Piccard, who spent 20 minutes on the seafloor.
Fryer also provided Cameron with complete, detailed mapping of symmetry data and topography of the Mariana Trench’s floor, information Fryer and her colleagues had amassed in the last four years.
Cameron used the map during his dive, while Fryer and other members of the expedition team also had a high-resolution map they used aboard the ship, the Mermaid Sapphire, to determine where Cameron was at all times.
"I was, in a sense, a glorified tour guide, but a geological one," she said with a laugh.
Technical issues arose with the submersible’s robotic arm due to hydraulic problems, making it incapable of collecting samples. But all was not lost, as Cameron collected a small sediment sample from a tube pushed into the seafloor. Fryer plans to examine the sediment for possible fossils.
Cameron also took 3-D images that will help Fryer and other experts examine the density of animal trails on the seafloor, a factor used to determine whether the sediment blanketing the seafloor is old or new. More animal tracks indicate older sediment, while fewer animal tracks indicate newer sediment.
Video images from Cameron’s dive indicated fewer animal trails on the seafloor. Tiny shrimplike creatures called amphipods also were observed.
The unique camera system also allowed Cameron to see clear images at a greater distance. Normally a diver can see about 10 or 15 feet away from the submersible, but with Cameron’s camera system he was able see at least three times as far.
Being part of Cameron’s historic dive was fascinating, Fryer said. A fan of his movies, she said getting to know Cameron as an expedition team member was a delight. "He is a taskmaster. He knows exactly what needs to be done," she said. "He sees the whole project in his mind’s eye. He can talk to each member of his team with tremendous amount of knowledge so the whole project moves foward."
As part of her ongoing research, Fryer is working on grant proposals in hopes to return to the Mariana region with the Nereus submersible in late 2013 or early 2014. Her goal is to head to the Sirena Deep, the second-deepest spot within the Mariana Trench.
