image: The robot submarine Autosub6000 can dive 3.73 miles (6,000 m) deep and was developed at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. view more
Credit: NOCS
A British scientific expedition is heading into the world's deepest volcanic rift, more than three miles beneath the waves in the Caribbean, to hunt for the deepest "black smoker" vents detected so far on the ocean floor. The team, working aboard the Royal Research Ship James Cook, will use a robot submarine called Autosub6000 and a remotely-controlled deep-sea vehicle called HyBIS to reveal the features and inhabitants of the world's undersea volcanoes for the first time.
The expedition is being run by Drs Doug Connelly, Jon Copley, Bramley Murton, Kate Stansfield and Professor Paul Tyler, all from the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, UK. They will explore the Cayman Trough – a rift in the seafloor of the Caribbean that reaches more than three miles deep. In November last year, a US-led survey of the waters of the Cayman Trough detected signs of deep-sea vents on the ocean floor below – and now the British expedition is heading out to investigate them.
Deep-sea vents are undersea volcanic springs that erupt mineral-rich water hot enough to melt lead. They were discovered in the Pacific three decades ago, but most are found one to two miles deep, dotted along chains of undersea volcanoes around the world. Scientists are fascinated by these vents because they support lush colonies of deep-sea creatures that thrive in the otherwise sparsely-populated abyss. The vent creatures feed on microbes that are nourished by minerals in the superheated water, creating an ecosystem that is not reliant on sunlight as its energy source.
For this expedition, the RRS James Cook is equipped with Autosub6000, a robot submarine developed by engineers at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, UK. Autosub6000 can dive 3.73 miles (6000 m) deep to map the ocean floor in detail, survey the currents and chemistry of deep waters, and take photographs. The team also plan to use a deep-sea vehicle called HyBIS, built by engineering company Hydro-Lek Ltd in Berkshire, UK. HyBIS can be remotely-controlled from the ship to film the ocean floor and collect samples of rocks and deep-sea creatures.
The researchers hope to compare the marine life at the bottom of the Cayman Trough with that known from other deep-sea vents, thereby shedding light on the web of life that spans the deep ocean. "Studying the species that thrive in such unlikely havens gives us insights into patterns of marine life around the world, and even the possibility of life on other planets,", says Copley, a marine biologist at the University of Southampton and leader of the research programme.
In addition, the team will investigate the geology of the area and the hot water that gushes from deep-sea vents. "Because deep-sea vents get hotter at greater depths, we expect these vents to be the hottest yet," says geochemist Connelly, who will be the Principal Scientist aboard the ship. The current world-record temperature for a deep-sea vent is 403ºC, at a vent 2.67 miles (4300 metres) deep in the middle of the Atlantic.
The expedition will also leave instruments on the ocean floor to monitor the little-known deep-sea currents of the Cayman Trough, and deploy experiments to investigate how deep-sea creatures colonise new habitats. The scientists will board the RRS James Cook in Trinidad on 21st March, to prepare for the ship's departure on 25th March. The expedition is scheduled to arrive at the Cayman Trough around 31st March, and will end in Jamaica on 24th April. During the voyage, the scientists will be posting updates about their progress live from the ship at www.noc.soton.ac.uk "We look forward to sharing the excitement of our expedition with people around the world", says Copley.
CONTACTS:
For more details contact the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton Press Officer Kim Marshall-Brown on + 44 (0)23 8059 6170.
Scientists can be contacted before joining the ship on 21st March via email as follows: Dr Doug Connelly (dpc@noc.soton.ac.uk); Dr Jon Copley (jtc@noc.soton.ac.uk); Dr Bramley Murton (bjm@noc.soton.ac.uk); Dr Kate Stansfield (ks1@noc.soton.ac.uk); Prof Paul Tyler (pat8@noc.soton.ac.uk).
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
(1) The expedition aboard the RRS James Cook begins in Port of Spain, Trinidad and ends in Montego Bay, Jamaica. It is part of a £462k research project funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (http://www.nerc.ac.uk).
(2) Team members Dr Bramley Murton and Dr Jon Copley are Chair and Co-Chair of InterRidge, the international organisation promoting co-operation between nations in scientific research at chains of undersea volcanoes that create the titanic plates of the Earth's crust. The InterRidge Office is currently hosted at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, UK; for more information, please visit http://www.interridge.org/.
(3) Team member Professor Paul Tyler is Chair of the international Census of Marine Life ChEss (Chemosynthetic Ecosystems) project, which aims to understand the patterns of life at deep-sea vents and other similar habitats around the world. The Census of Marine Life ChEss project is co-ordinated from the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, UK; for more information please visit http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/chess
(4) From 1st April 2010 the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton will become part of the new National Oceanography Centre: www.noc.ac.uk. The NERC-managed activities of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton will come together with the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory in Liverpool to create a new, national organisation that delivers integrated marine science and technology, from the coast to the deep ocean. Its hosting partners are the University of Southampton – where researchers at the School of Ocean and Earth Science engage in collaborative research at the Southampton waterfront campus - and the University of Liverpool, where the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory is based.
(5) The RRS James Cook is the UK's newest ocean-going research ship, operated by the Natural Environment Research Council. This expedition will be the 44th voyage of the ship, which was named in February 2007 by HRH Princess Anne.