was a good opportunity for the group’s scientific observers to become more
familiar with volcanic landscape as it appears under the sea.
The support ship, Marcel le BIHAN, and the submersible Archimède left Toulon
on June 17, 1972, for the Port of Funchal in Madeira. Eight dives took place
between the 3rd and the 26th of July 1972. The scientific party included JeanLouis Cheminée, Jean Francheteau, Gilbert Bellaiche, and myself. The diving
group included Gibaudan and Tissieres, who were our electronic engineers, plus
Berthelot and Bernasconi, who were our electronic experts and frogmen, and the
mechanics were Serrant and Chaix, who later went on to become a pilot of Cyana
and Nautile. The technical engineers were Jean Jarry, Michel Drogou, Dominique
Semac and Jean-Louis Michel. The two pilots of Archimède were Commanders de
Froberville and Harismendy. The area of the dive was chosen according to a
previous bathymetric survey that the NO JEAN CHARCOT had done in 1966 on
the southern coast of Madeira, about 20 km away from the port of Funchal.
The first series of dives were technical and descended to 4,000 m depth on an
abyssal plain, in order to test the hydraulic system in a low temperature environment of about 2 °C. The first dive was also aimed at verifying the light probes
and their orientation. On July 10 and 13, Jean Louis Cheminée went on two dives
followed by Gilbert Bellaiche on July 17. Between dives, the ship and the submersible entered the port except for the first two technical dives when we stayed at
sea. This was to test the capability of refueling at sea. Jean Francheteau and I made
the last three dives with the pilot Harismendy at 1,700–2,500 meters depth. I
remember that during my dive we were on a heavily sedimented bottom at the foot
of Madeira Island, at more than 2,000 m depth. For the first time, I saw several
large fish called ‘‘spada’’ in Portuguese. Apparently during the day, they dive very
deep and at night they come to the surface, which is when the Portuguese fisherman in their lighted boats are able to catch them.
The cruise ended the 29th of July and the ship reached the port of Toulon on
August 1, 1972. In fact, the geology was not too fascinating because of the heavily
sedimented terrain so it was difficult to see the volcanic outcrops. Nevertheless,
this mission definitely helped us to get an idea about the observations we would be
able to make during later dives. Certainly, seeing the sea floor so close up, we had
to be fast in getting all sorts of information in a very short time. At first, I found it
hard to concentrate, but I soon got used to the main task of the scientists, which
was to observe, make quick notes, and talk into a cassette tape recorder as much as
possible before the target disappeared from in front of the port hole. I learned that
the most important thing to be done is to acquire the maximum amount information in order to reconstruct the events and observations of a dive after returning
on board the ship. I carefully took notes of ‘‘time seen’’ and ‘‘depth’’ for each
geological outcrop that I observed, and I also made sure that the video camera was
recording. The next cruise scheduled for our training period was going to take
place in October and plans were already being made on board.
The FAMOUS project: The Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 37°N
177
familiar with volcanic landscape as it appears under the sea.
The support ship, Marcel le BIHAN, and the submersible Archimède left Toulon
on June 17, 1972, for the Port of Funchal in Madeira. Eight dives took place
between the 3rd and the 26th of July 1972. The scientific party included JeanLouis Cheminée, Jean Francheteau, Gilbert Bellaiche, and myself. The diving
group included Gibaudan and Tissieres, who were our electronic engineers, plus
Berthelot and Bernasconi, who were our electronic experts and frogmen, and the
mechanics were Serrant and Chaix, who later went on to become a pilot of Cyana
and Nautile. The technical engineers were Jean Jarry, Michel Drogou, Dominique
Semac and Jean-Louis Michel. The two pilots of Archimède were Commanders de
Froberville and Harismendy. The area of the dive was chosen according to a
previous bathymetric survey that the NO JEAN CHARCOT had done in 1966 on
the southern coast of Madeira, about 20 km away from the port of Funchal.
The first series of dives were technical and descended to 4,000 m depth on an
abyssal plain, in order to test the hydraulic system in a low temperature environment of about 2 °C. The first dive was also aimed at verifying the light probes
and their orientation. On July 10 and 13, Jean Louis Cheminée went on two dives
followed by Gilbert Bellaiche on July 17. Between dives, the ship and the submersible entered the port except for the first two technical dives when we stayed at
sea. This was to test the capability of refueling at sea. Jean Francheteau and I made
the last three dives with the pilot Harismendy at 1,700–2,500 meters depth. I
remember that during my dive we were on a heavily sedimented bottom at the foot
of Madeira Island, at more than 2,000 m depth. For the first time, I saw several
large fish called ‘‘spada’’ in Portuguese. Apparently during the day, they dive very
deep and at night they come to the surface, which is when the Portuguese fisherman in their lighted boats are able to catch them.
The cruise ended the 29th of July and the ship reached the port of Toulon on
August 1, 1972. In fact, the geology was not too fascinating because of the heavily
sedimented terrain so it was difficult to see the volcanic outcrops. Nevertheless,
this mission definitely helped us to get an idea about the observations we would be
able to make during later dives. Certainly, seeing the sea floor so close up, we had
to be fast in getting all sorts of information in a very short time. At first, I found it
hard to concentrate, but I soon got used to the main task of the scientists, which
was to observe, make quick notes, and talk into a cassette tape recorder as much as
possible before the target disappeared from in front of the port hole. I learned that
the most important thing to be done is to acquire the maximum amount information in order to reconstruct the events and observations of a dive after returning
on board the ship. I carefully took notes of ‘‘time seen’’ and ‘‘depth’’ for each
geological outcrop that I observed, and I also made sure that the video camera was
recording. The next cruise scheduled for our training period was going to take
place in October and plans were already being made on board.
The FAMOUS project: The Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 37°N
177