Deep-sea hydrothermal systems offer a unique environment in which to study the interplay between abiotic geochemical reactions and microbiological processes at rapidly changing physical and chemical gradients.

We are investigating how microbial colonization is influenced by the dynamic thermochemical gradients and variable mineral/fluid chemistry of deep-sea hydrothermal vents and, in turn, how the presence of microorganisms influences the local geochemistry. We are examining young seafloor hydrothermal chimneys because they represent one of the few environments on Earth that are known to evolve rapidly from strictly abiotic conditions to complex microbial communities in a short time period (days to weeks).

Our goals on this cruise are to test sample recovery and preservation methods for bringing young chimney samples back to the surface intact in order to study their interior micro-chemical habitats. This data, combined with temperature and fluid measurements taken on the seafloor, will allow us to reconstruct the local geochemistry of chimney formation and evolution, and to determine if or when micro-habitats became suitable for microbial colonization.