Beautiful Unknowns ~ Video Update Week 3

Finding what you aren't looking for isn't always a bad thing! So far, the team has not found find more vents like the Lost City hydrothermal field, but they have discovered large high-temperature, black-smoker hydrothermal systems. These fields are massive and have bustling ecosystems, raising many questions that need answers. There is currently an international … Continued

Nace la curiosidad ~ Science Stories

“Aunque vengo de una isla, Puerto Rico, nunca antes había estado en un barco”. El microbiólogo Marc Fontánez Ortiz explica cómo su camino hacia las ciencias oceánicas no fue tan directo o simple como muchos podrían suponer. Eche un vistazo a su “Historia de Ciencia”, en donde él describe las experiencias que lo trajeron hasta … Continued

ROV Dives – In Search of Hydrothermal Lost Cities

On its inaugural expedition, Falkor (too) will head to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge with Chief Scientist Dr. David Butterfield from the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory – University of Washington, and his team to search for hydrothermal lost cities. In 2000, scientists found a hydrothermal vent system on the Atlantis Massif unlike any seen before. Ghostly towers made … Continued

Biology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents

Some of the most striking features of the deep sea are the amazing oases of life found at sites of hydrothermal venting. Elsewhere in the deep ocean, there is a low density of animals due to the fact that food is less abundant with depth, and thus, there is not enough energy to sustain a … Continued

When a Plan Comes Together ~ Video Update Week 2

The #LostCityVents team made a breathtaking discovery recently, and when a researcher says "We found something beyond what we could ever expect," you know it's worth paying attention. Using a combination of cutting-edge technology - including sonars on R/V Falkor (too) and autonomous underwater vehicles, CTD sampling, and ROV SuBastian - the team located black … Continued

Origins and Life: Going deep to study Earth’s tiniest organisms

Traducción al español disponible a continuación Written by Marc A. Fontánez Ortiz The deep sea is the largest ecosystem on Earth. It harbors a plethora of (bio)geochemical interactions, being the home to different life forms that range from shrimp to unicellular microorganisms. I am a geomicrobiologist who studies energy flow between water-rock-life interactions to understand … Continued

Starting the Expedition: Serpentinization on the Seafloor

Spanish Translation Below  The origins of this expedition – “Searching for Serpentinization-Driven Hydrothermal Activity on Oceanic Core Complexes of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge” – go back to the year 2000, when a talented team of marine geologists and oceanographers were surveying and exploring an oceanic core complex with the submersible Alvin at the intersection of the … Continued

Keep On Venting – Ep. 3 – There’s a Whole Ecosystem?

“Hydrothermal vents and the dynamic ecosystems that live amid the darkness are vital to our beautiful planet and its cycles.” Explore geochemical and microbiological interactions, including chemosynthesis and symbiosis in final piece of this series. Come aboard Research Vessel Falkor and let SOI’s Science Communication intern Brittany Washington explain these wondrous and beautiful underwater features, … Continued

Keep On Venting – Ep. 2 – What is Chemosynthesis?

Hydrothermal vents are some of the most biologically active areas in the deep sea. Why? How can creatures not only survive, but *thrive* in areas with harsh chemicals, huge temperature differences, and crushing pressure? Come aboard Research Vessel Falkor and let SOI’s Science Communication intern Brittany Washington explain these wondrous and beautiful underwater features, as … Continued

Keep On Venting – Ep. 1 – A Hydrothermal What?

How do interactions between the Earth’s rocky crust, molten core, and liquid oceans create hydrothermal vents? What exactly are these vents, and why are they interesting to researchers all over the world? Come aboard Research Vessel Falkor and let SOI’s Science Communication intern Brittany Washington explain these wondrous and beautiful underwater features, as well as … Continued