May 15, 2005- June 4, 2005
The fourth in a series of five research expeditions involving ChEss scientists to the Lau Basin in the South Pacific eft Suva, Fiji on May 15, 2005. It will pick up where the third expedition left off. The main focus is on deep-sea biology, especially on:
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Genetic analysis. Researchers will examine vent animals' genetic material (DNA), to investigate how individuals at different vent sites are related to each other, and how genetically diverse they are (a high degree of genetic diversity can be a good thing if the environment changes, because in a diverse population there are more likely to be individuals which can survive in new conditions). This will help answer the puzzle of how populations of animals develop at vent sites, and how and when dispersal between vent sites might take place.
- Mussel ecology. Mussel beds found in the Lau Basin will be compared with those found elsewhere in the world, to understand more about how and when creatures in the Lau Basin evolved.
More information: http://www.venturedeepocean.org/expeditions/lau/creatures.html
Daily Cruise logs: http://www.mbari.org/expeditions/fijilau/may15.htm
May 9, 2005- May 21, 2005
Deep sea biologist Paul Tyler left Phuket Thailand on May 9, 2005 aboard the M/V Performer to lead the biological investigation of the area of the earthquake epicenter off the Indonesian coast that caused the deadliest tsunami in recorded history. Tyler is part of a team of geologists, geophysicists, biologists, and modeling and visualization experts aboard the ship whose work will be filmed for a BBC and Discovery Channel Networks documentary to be released later this year.
A daily journal from a high school teacher onboard is available at http://www.armadaproject.org/journals/2005-2006/holt.htm
February 17, 2005- March 19, 2005
Researchers and engineers boarded the RSS Charles Darwin on February 17th with the goal of being the first to explore vent sites along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge section south of the Equator. The study of this previously unexplored area will provide basic knowledge of the specific location and characteristics of hydrothermal activity, and answer major scientific questions on the biogeography of hydrothermal vent fauna along a ridge axis and across ocean basins. The cruise is a collaboration between researchers and engineers from the Southampton Oceanography Centre (UK) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (USA).
http://www.soc.soton.ac.uk/chess/
smar05/smar_background.html
January 22, 2005- April, 2005
Census scientists brave the cold and rough seas for two months to learn more about the benthic communities of the Southern Ocean. Their big-picture goal is to find out what the benthic communities consist of, the history of how they colonized the abyssal plains of the Southern Ocean, and which factors are influencing them today. Among these factors are characteristics of sediment and the overlying water column, currents, temperature, food availability, and adaptations of the animals to cold, darkness, and scarcity of food.
In cooperation with other projects (see cruises above and below) concerned with sampling the seafloor of deep-sea, scientists are attempting to get a better handle on the deep-sea fauna of the eastern Atlantic from pole to pole, how it changes from one basis to another, how closely related the communities are between adjacent basins, and how large the species richness of the deep sea is, e.g., compared with that of tropical rainforests.
http://www.deepsea-research.org
http://www.tiefsee-forschung.de
March 12, 2005- April 6, 2005
Spending nearly a month at sea, Census scientists are studying hydrothermal vents in the little explored area off the coast of South America known as the East Pacific Rise. Their main objective is to locate barriers to gene flow among species of hydrothermal vent organisms in the vicinity of the Easter and Juan Fernandez Microplates, work that will greatly enhance our understanding of the biogeography of vent fauna.
http://www.soc.soton.ac.uk/chess/
easter05/easter_main.html
October 25, 2004-November 11, 2004
Two ChEss scientists set sail on October 25, 2004 from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts aboard the RV Knorr for a two-week cruise to TAG,one of the best-studied hydrothermal vent site, in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. TAG consists of a mound 200 meters in diameter and 50 meters high at a depth of 3680 meters.
http://www.soc.soton.ac.uk/chess/
tag04/tag_background.html
August 2004
A three-week US-Russian oceanographic research expedition to the Bering and Chukchi Seas: Ten Americans, two Canadians, two German, one Korean, and 20 Russian scientists conducted an array of studies on the region's physical, chemical, and biological oceanography.
http://www.sfos.uaf.edu/research/arcdiv/
news/index.html
http://www.cifar.uaf.edu/research/rusalca.cfm
June-August 2004
Mar-ECO cruise aboard the RV GO Sars: 60 scientists from 13 nations explored life in the mid-Atlantic at various depths down to 4 km (2.5 milers).
http://www.mar-eco.no/mareco_news/news_field_
phase2004/the_midatlantic_ridge__an_oasis_of_
animal_communities?MySourceSession=
0fc8f68611d8984f067bae33f2d3021a
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