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Deep-sea hydrothermal vents harbour unique animals that rely on reduced chemicals emitted from the vents to survive. A mile below the surface of the ocean, in complete darkness and at high pressure, these animals thrive in an environment characterised by hot, acidic and sulphurous fluids. Since their discovery in the 1970s, many vent fields … Continued
It Takes a Village to Start a Research Cruise (or “A Light-hearted look at the Voyage to the Vents”) Boarded the ship on Friday, left the port of Suva on Sunday, and arrived at Niua Volcano to start our work Tuesday morning… That’s four days! Plenty of time for waiting around, relaxing, working on … Continued
On this cruise, my role is ‘fluids,’ which is a large category since we are in the middle of the ocean (Luckily I don’t have to sample all of it!) The fluids I’m interested in are hydrothermal fluids that have formed through high-temperature reactions with rock. I will also be taking samples at points … Continued
Yesterday, Falkor crossed the frontier between Fiji and Tonga, en route to the Niua Volcanic Complex at the very northern tip of Tonga. The “border” between Fiji and Tonga is a line in the ocean about 275 miles from the port of Suva and passing between some of the most remote volcanic islands in … Continued
Join the science team aboard R/V Falkor with Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) ROPOS as they explore the Niua, an underwater volcano, digitally recreating a black smoker hydrothermal vent field.
Peter R. Girguis is a Professor in the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Department at Harvard University, and an Adjunct Oceanographer in Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He and the members of his lab study the ecology and physiology of marine microbes, including their role in gut microbiomes and in animal-microbial … Continued
After a seemingly endless time of planning, our Virtual Vents cruise is now under way. Falkor has left the port of Suva, steaming ahead northeast towards the Niua Volcano and its southern hydrothermal field in about 1,400 m depth, a day’s travel west of Samoa. The reason we call it the Virtual Vents cruise is because … Continued
Fanny Girard is a third-year Ph.D. student in Dr. Charles Fisher’s lab at the Pennsylvania State University. As part of her thesis, she has been looking at the long-term impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea coral communities in the Gulf of Mexico using imaging methods. She is mainly focusing on understanding processes … Continued
Michael Hannaford is an ROV Pilot & Mechanical Technician who works as a contractor on a variety of ROV systems. He has worked with the ROPOS system several times in the past. For this cruise Michael, along with the rest of the ROV crew, will be responsible for piloting the ROV, operating the ROV manipulators, … Continued
