From Sept. 29th until Oct. 7th I could enjoy the CREES (Coral Reef Environmental Earth Sciences/Carbonate Research for Earth Evolution Systems) summer school organized by the research group of Prof. Watanabe of the Hokkaido University.

As the fieldwork part of the summer school has been planned on Amami Island and on Kikai Island, we collected groundwater samples for noble-gas analysis from a few wells (some of them used by local shochu distileries). The results from the new water samples are expected to complement the He data acquired during RV Shinsei Maru cruise KS14-10 in the ocean surrounding these islands.

Water and sediment samples have been collected during Shinsei Maru cruise KS14-10 between June 25th 2014 and July 5th 2014. The fieldwork involved almost all members of the Marine Analytical Chemistry group. The expedition covered a region stretching from Kagoshima Bay to Amami Islands with the aim to investigate the hydrothermal activity along the volcanic arc form a geochemical perspective. More pictures can be found under Expeditions.

May 12th-14th 2014: During the expedition on RV Kakuyo-Maru of the Nagasaki University we collected water samples for noble-gas analysis in the Nagasaki Bay. At a specific sampling station located close to the former town of Obama we could observe (and sample) an active hydrothermal vent. More pictures can be found under Expeditions.