Instruments

A flat dish with multiple individual wells that are arrayed in a standardized number, size, and arrangement.

An instrument used for the purpose of culturing small cells such as algae or bacteria. May provide temperature and light control and bubbled gas introduction.

Devices attached to living organisms with the purpose of determining the location of those organisms as a function of time after tagging and release.

A laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, puree or emulsify substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender container with a rotating metal blade at the bottom, powered by an electric motor that is in the base. An immersion blender configuration has a motor on top connected by a shaft to a rotating blade at the bottom, which can be used with any container.

A benthic lander is an autonom­ous re­search plat­form used in mar­ine re­search to take meas­ure­ments dir­ectly on the sea­floor. Benthic landers are car­rier sys­tems to which dif­fer­ent meas­ur­ing and sampling devices can be at­tached. They trans­port these devices to the sea­floor and back up again. Autonom­ous means that the lander is not con­nec­ted to the ship via a cable. It can thus work in­de­pend­ently on the sea­floor for a long period of time.

Automated trace element sampler (MITESS or ATE unit).

Bell, J., J. Betts, and E. Boyle (2002) MITESS: A Moored In-situ Trace Element Serial Sampler for Deep-Sea Moorings, Deep-Sea Research I: 49:2103-2118 (pdf)

More description: http://boyle.mit.edu/~ed/MITESS/MITESShomepage.html

The G2201-i Isotopic Analyzer measures d13C for CH4 and CO2. See: https://www.picarro.com/products/g2201i_isotopic_analyzer

Records temperature data over a period of time.

An automated system used to process tissue specimens for examination through fixation, dehydration, and infiltration.

A seine net is a very long net, with or without a bag in the centre, which is set either from the shore or from a boat for surrounding a certain area and is operated with two (long) ropes fixed to its ends (for hauling and herding the fish).

Seine nets are operated both in inland and in marine waters. The surrounded and catching area depends on the length of the seine and of the hauling lines.

(definition from: fao.org)

The Pierce Micro BCA Protein Assay Kit is a three-component version of our BCA reagents, optimized to measure total protein concentration of dilute protein solutions (0.5 to 20 μg/mL).

A rapid flow analyzer that may be used to measure nutrient concentrations in seawater. It is a continuous segmented flow instrument consisting of a sampler, peristaltic pump, analytical cartridge, heating bath, and colorimeter. See more information about this instrument from the manufacturer.

For measuring and recording water levels in rivers, streams, and wells.

A Fluorescence (or Epifluorescence) Microscope Image Analysis System uses semi-automated color image analysis to determine cell abundance, dimensions and biovolumes from an Epifluorescence Microscope. An Epifluorescence Microscope (conventional and inverted) includes a camera system that generates enlarged images of prepared samples. The microscope uses excitation ultraviolet light and the phenomena of fluorescence and phosphorescence instead of, or in addition to, reflection and absorption of visible light.

An apparatus composed of two vertically oriented, coaxial cylinders separated by a gap that contains seawater. During operation, the outer cylinder rotates at a prescribed speed causing relative motion between the cylinders and thereby shearing the seawater between them.

A metal detector is an electronic instrument that detects the presence of metal nearby. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal inclusions hidden within objects, or metal objects buried underground. They often consist of a handheld unit with a sensor probe which can be swept over the ground or other objects.

Human Occupied Vehicle (HOV) Alvin is part of the National Deep Submergence Facility (NDSF). Alvin enables in-situ data collection and observation by two scientists to depths reaching 6,500 meters, during dives lasting up to ten hours.

Commissioned in 1964 as one of the world’s first deep-ocean submersibles, Alvin has remained state-of-the-art as a result of numerous overhauls and upgrades made over its lifetime. The most recent upgrades, begun in 2011 and completed in 2021, saw the installation of a new, larger personnel sphere with a more ergonomic interior; improved visibility and overlapping fields of view; longer bottoms times; new lighting and high-definition imaging systems; improved sensors, data acquisition and download speed.  It also doubled the science basket payload, and improved the command-and-control system allowing greater speed, range and maneuverability.

With seven reversible thrusters, it can hover in the water, maneuver over rugged topography, or rest on the sea floor.  It can collect data throughout the water column, produce a variety of maps and perform photographic surveys.  Alvin also has two robotic arms that can manipulate instruments, obtain samples, and its basket can be reconfigured daily based on the needs of the upcoming dive.

Alvin's depth rating of 6,500m gives researchers in-person access to 99% of the ocean floor.  Alvin is a proven and reliable platform capable of diving for up to 30 days in a row before requiring a single scheduled maintenance day.  Recent collaborations with autonomous vehicles such as Sentry have proven extremely beneficial, allowing PIs to visit promising sites to collect samples and data in person within hours of their being discovered, and UNOLs driven technological advances have improved the ability for scientific outreach and collaboration via telepresence

Alvin is named for Allyn Vine, a WHOI engineer and geophysicist who helped pioneer deep submergence research and technology.

(from https://www.whoi.edu/what-we-do/explore/underwater-vehicles/hov-alvin/, accessed 2022-09-09)

A device that isolates a portion of seabed plus overlying water from its surroundings. Either returns the entire system to the surface or incorporates sampling devices and/or in-situ sensors.

Tilt current meters are based upon the property that a tethered object will experience drag inside a current flow. If a restoring force perpendicular to the drag is introduced, the tethered object will tilt until the system of forces is balanced. Therefore, measuring the tilt allows calculation of drag force, from which current speed can be obtained. Measuring the direction of tilt gives current heading.

Tilt current meters operate under the drag-tilt principle and are designed to either float or sink depending on the type. A floating tilt current meter typically consists of a sub-surface buoyant housing that is anchored to the sea floor with a flexible line or tether. A sinking tilt current is similar, but the housing is designed such that the meter hangs from the attachment point. In either case, the housing tilts as a function of its shape, buoyancy (negative or positive) and the water velocity. Once the characteristics of a housing is known, the velocity can be determined by measuring the angle of the housing and direction of tilt.

The Qiagen TissueLyser II is a tissue processor designed to disrupt biological samples through high-speed shaking in plastic tubes with stainless steel, tungsten carbide, or glass beads. It is used for high-throughput disruption of human, animal, and plant tissues, bacteria, and yeast to access biological information for genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics applications. It automates the purification of DNA, RNA, and protein from 1 to 96 samples. Disruption and homogenization are achieved through the beating and grinding effect of beads on the sample material as they are shaken together in the grinding vessels. Using the appropriate adapter set, up to 48 or 192 samples can be processed at the same time. Alternatively, a grinding jar set can be used to process large samples. A range of beads, bead dispensers, and collection microtubes and caps are also available. It can be programmed to provide variable speeds from 3 to 30 Hz (180-1800 oscillations per minute) and run times from 10 seconds to 99 minutes.

ROV SuBastian is operated from the research vessel Falkor and the R/V Falkor(too). The ROV is outfitted with a suite of sensors and scientific equipment to support scientific data and sample collection, as well as interactive research, experimentation, and technology development. More information available at https://schmidtocean.org/technology/robotic-platforms/4500-m-remotely-operated-vehicle-rov/

This equipment removes dissolved gases from the water samples, traps the extracted compounds on a cold trap and then heats the trap and injects the trapped gases into the gas chromatograph. It is automated and controlled by a laptop computer.

Digestion instrument for UV photolysis of water samples

An epibenthic sled is a semi-quantitative bottom-sampling device designed to trawl just above the bottom at the sediment water interface (the epibenthic zone). The sled consists of a rectangular steel frame with a mesh net (often more than one) attached to it. Towed along the ocean floor, its weight scrapes into the benthos, collecting any organisms on the surface or in the first few centimeters of sediment. It also collects the organisms in the water column just above the benthos.

Descriptions from WHOI and Census of Marine Life.

Laboratory apparatus that automatically introduces one or more samples with a predetermined volume or mass into an analytical instrument.

A gas flow multicounter (GM multicounter) is used for counting low-level beta doses. GM multicounters can be used for gas proportional counting of 32Si to 32P. For more information about GM multicounter usage see Krause et. al. 2011.

The chemiluminescence method for gas analysis of oxides of nitrogen relies on the measurement of light produced by the gas-phase titration of nitric oxide and ozone. A chemiluminescence analyzer can measure the concentration of NO/NO2/NOX.

One example is the Teledyne Model T200: https://www.teledyne-api.com/products/nitrogen-compound-instruments/t200

Examples include Tekran Models 2600 and 2700 

A centrifugal evaporator is a device used in chemical and biochemical laboratories for the efficient and gentle evaporation of solvents from many samples at the same time, and samples contained in microtitre plates. 

The Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD) unit is an integrated instrument package designed to measure the conductivity, temperature, and pressure (depth) of the water column. The instrument is lowered via cable through the water column. It permits scientists to observe the physical properties in real-time via a conducting cable, which is typically connected to a CTD to a deck unit and computer on a ship. The CTD is often configured with additional optional sensors including fluorometers, transmissometers and/or radiometers. It is often combined with a Rosette of water sampling bottles (e.g. Niskin, GO-FLO) for collecting discrete water samples during the cast.

This term applies to profiling CTDs. For fixed CTDs, see https://www.bco-dmo.org/instrument/869934.

Instruments that quantify carbon, nitrogen and sometimes other elements by combusting the sample at very high temperature and assaying the resulting gaseous oxides. Usually used for samples including organic material.

Instruments that generate enlarged images of samples using the phenomena of reflection and absorption of visible light. Includes conventional and inverted instruments. Also called a "light microscope".

An analytical instrument that can measure multiple parameters, such as pH, EC, TDS, DO and temperature with one device and is portable or hand-held.

A micromanipulator is an apparatus used to physically interact with a sample under a microscope.

Small and large capacity vacuum pump samplers. May have single or multiple chambers. See http://www.whoi.edu/main/alvin/subsystems/optional-scientific-samplers

shore fishing gear

The Metrohm 905 Titrando potentiometric titrator is a modular potentiometric titrator for dynamic, monotonic, and set endpoint titrations. The device includes magnetic stirrers, rod stirrers, and a titration stand. It can be connected to various dosing units which include a buret and are attached to the reagent. Operation is carried out by means of a touch-sensitive display or with high-performance PC software. Temperature is measured by a Pt1000 or NTC. Ranges of the outputs are -13 to 20 pH, -1200 to 1200 mV, and -150 to 250 deg. C (Pt1000) or -5 ro 250 deg. C (NTC). Resolutions of the outputs are 0.001 for pH, 0.1 for mV, 0.1 deg. C for temperature. The measuring interval is of 100 ms. Works in conditions from 5 to 45 deg. C and at a maximum of 80 % relative humidity.

Equipment designed to transmit and receive data from a remote source using telecommunications methods.

The mussel pot is a 12-quart aluminium-clad stainless steel pot with a twistable handle connected to a Kevlar bag insert. It is used to sample mussel beds and associated communities. The pot is deployed over the select mussel patch using the submersible or ROV manipulator, then collects the enclosed assemblage by cinching the Kevlar bag closed by turning the handle. This method allows for quantitative analysis of deep-sea mussel bed communities.

Vibracoring is a sediment sampling technology to obtain undisturbed cores of unconsolidated, sediment in saturated or nearly saturated conditions by driving sampling tubes with a high-frequency-low-amplitude vibrating device. During sediment coring, the high-frequency vibration transfers the energy to the sediment and aids in the liquefaction of the surrounding sediment. It greatly reduces the friction between the core tube and sediment and eases the core tube to penetrate into the sediment layer. Comparing to non-vibratory coring devices, such as box cores, gravity cores, and piston cores, vibracore has higher core sample recoveries. Vibracorers are effective in both shallow and deep environments. They retrieve core samples with different lengths depending on sediment lithology.

A tool used to analyze and quantify fish swimming behavior, physiology, and performance.

Underwater writing slates and pencils are used to transport pre-dive plans underwater, to record facts whilst underwater and to aid communication with other divers.

The OXY-10 mini is a precise multi-channel oxygen meter for up to 10 'in-house' sensors, simultaneously controlling and reading them. The meter is used with oxygen sensors based on a 2mm optical fibre. The meter is compatible with sensors that are type PSt3 which has a detection limit 15 ppb, 0 - 100% oxygen.

A bone cutter is a surgical instrument used to cut bones or coral fragments. 

An artificial colonization substrate (or "settlment plate") made from PVC pipe cut length-wise and engraved with lines to roughen its surface. It is used to determine the extent of colonization and/or the diversity of settled organisms in a marine or artificial environment.

Unspecified Biospherical PAR.  An irradiance sensor, designed to measure Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR).

Germanium detectors are semiconductor diodes having a p-i-n structure in which the intrinsic (i) region is sensitive to ionizing radiation, particularly x rays and gamma rays. Under reverse bias, an electric field extends across the intrinsic or depleted region. When photons interact with the material within the depleted volume of a detector, charge carriers (holes and electrons) are produced and are swept by the electric field to the p and n electrodes. This charge, which is in proportion to the energy deposited in the detector by the incoming photon, is converted into a voltage pulse by an integral charge sensitive preamplifier. Germanium detectors are mostly used for gamma spectroscopy in nuclear physics, as well as x-ray spectroscopy.

A laser scanning confocal microscope is a type of confocal microscope that obtains high-resolution optical images with depth selectivity, in which a laser beam passes through a light source aperture and then is focused by an objective lens into a small (ideally diffraction-limited) focal volume within or on the surface of a specimen.

The confocal microscope uses fluorescence optics. 'Confocal' means that the image is obtained from the focal plane only, any noise resulting from sample thickness being removed optically. 'Laser scanning' means the images are acquired point by point under localized laser excitation rather than full sample illumination, as in conventional widefield microscopy.