Dive Mission

Dr. Craig Cary, Chief Scientist, prepares to board the submersible Alvin.

On October 20, 2002, a research team led by University of Delaware marine scientist Craig Cary will set sail from San Diego, California, on the 24-day expedition "Extreme 2002: Mission to the Abyss."

Their mission will be to explore one of the most demanding environments on Earth — super-hot hydrothermal vents nearly 2 miles deep on the Pacific Ocean floor.

The scientists will travel aboard the 274-foot research vessel Atlantis to their dive site in the Pacific and then descend to the vents in the famous deep-sea submersible Alvin. Both vessels are operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

The Pompeii worm pokes its head out of its sweltering tube home at the base of a hydrothermal vent. Photo courtesy of Dr. Richard A. Lutz and Andrew Reed, Rutgers University.

Under Dr. Cary's direction, the researchers will study the vents and the strange organisms that inhabit them, including the Pompeii worm — Earth's most heat-tolerant animal, able to withstand temperatures up to 80°C (176°F).

Vents Teem with Unusual Life

The ocean's greatest depths once were believed to support only a few organisms. But in the past 25 years, intrepid explorers, diving to the seafloor in high-tech submersibles, have disproved that notion. They have discovered that a number of unusual creatures inhabit some areas of the deep sea — at underwater geysers called hydrothermal vents.

Here, over a mile beneath the ocean's surface, live dinner-plate-sized clams reeking of sulfur, towering tubeworms resembling giant lipsticks, ghost-white crabs prowling for prey, pinkish eel-like fish, and the microscopic bacteria that hold together this strange web of life.

Currently, scientists are exploring hydrothermal vent sites to learn more about this "extreme" environment and its unique community of organisms.

After all, vent dwellers thrive under some of the most demanding conditions on the planet. They live in a world of total darkness. They are constantly bathed in toxic chemicals that rocket out of the vents. And some vent organisms — tiny microbes — can survive water hotter than boiling!

Tubeworms

Tubeworms (Riftia pachyptila) may grow to about 3 meters (8 ft) tall. They have no mouth, eyes, or stomach. They depend on bacteria living inside them for survival.

What's more, the atmospheric pressure exerted on these organisms from the weight of the vast ocean above is more than 250 times the pressure we feel on land.

Surf through our Web site and learn more about hydrothermal vents, the fascinating creatures that inhabit them, the technology that makes deep-sea research possible, and the discoveries that marine scientists are making. Let's dive in!

During the Extreme 2002 mission, over 41,000 middle- and high-school students from across the United States and in several other countries will be immersed in marine science through this innovative educational program developed by the University of Delaware College of Marine Studies, with primary funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

More than 500 classrooms around the world will learn about deep-sea research through a pri nted resource guide, curriculum activities and evaluations, and this interactive Web site, which will allow visitors to examine a 3-D Pompeii worm and take a virtual tour of the seafloor among other innovative features. A documentary video also has been provided to participating classrooms, courtesy of WHYY-TV, the Public Broadcasting Station affiliate serving Wilmington and Philadelphia.

Students also will have the opportunity to "Write the Scientists" and help design an "Extreme Experiment." As a special highlight, nearly 50 classrooms will participate in live conference calls with the scientists as they work in the submersible Alvin on the seafloor.

"This project is about getting students excited about science," says Dr. Craig Cary, University of Delaware marine biologist and chief scientist on the expedition. "We want to introduce them to one of the most fascinating habitats on the planet and engage them in the process of research and discovery."

The Extreme 2002 shipboard education coordinators include Hepsi Zsoldos, an Earth science teacher at Talley Middle School in Wilmington, Delaware, and Jen Constanza, a graduate student at the University of Delaware College of Marine Studies. Their journals, interviews, photos, and videos will be uploaded daily to the Web site.




	Check out the latest news — including photos and video clips — from the Extreme 2002 Team at sea!