Dive Mission

Dr. Craig Cary, chief scientist, prepares to board the submersible Alvin.

On November 30, 2004, an international research team led by University of Delaware marine scientist Craig Cary will set sail from Manzanillo, Mexico, on the 21-day expedition "Extreme 2004: Exploring the Deep Frontier."

The scientists will live aboard the 274-foot research vessel Atlantis and dive to the depths in the submersible Alvin.

Their mission will be to explore one of the most demanding environments on the planet: hydrothermal vents. These underwater geysers erupt at cracks in the Earth's crust, where new seafloor is being born.

The scientists will be working to learn more about biocomplexity — the complex interplay between living organisms and their environment. Using tools borrowed from the Human Genome Project, 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).

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.

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 while most of the deep sea is just above freezing, the water erupting from the vents is super-hot, up to 360°C (680°F)!

Tubeworms (Riftia pachyptila) are the most dominant animals at the East Pacific Rise vent sites. They 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.

How can these creatures survive such harsh conditions? Researchers involved in Extreme 2004: Exploring the Deep Frontier are searching for the answers and invite you to join them in their adventure to the deep.

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 2004 expedition, middle- and high-school students from across the United States, Austria, Canada, Iran, Mexico, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Uzbekistan, will be immersed in marine science through this award-winning educational program developed by the University of Delaware College of Marine Studies, with funding from the National Science Foundation and support from NOAA Sea Grant, WHYY-TV, and the University of Waikato, New Zealand.

Over 760 classrooms, representing nearly 53,000 students, will learn about deep-sea research through a printed resource guide, standards-based curricula 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 Service affiliate in Wilmington and Philadelphia.

Students will have the opportunity to "Write the Scientists," design an "Extreme Experiment," and enter their vent science, poetry, and art projects in our "Virtual Science Fair." As a special highlight, 48 classrooms will participate in conference calls with the scientists as they work in the submersible Alvin on the seafloor.

This year for the first time, a companion educational program, using University of Delaware resource materials translated into German, will be presented in Austria under the leadership of Extreme 2004 scientist Dr. Monika Bright.

"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 thrill of discovery."

Check out "Daily Discoveries" for an update of each day's activities from Michael League, a graduate student at the University of Delaware College of Marine Studies, and Karen Romano Young, an author of science articles and books. As our shipboard education coordinators, they'll keep you posted on what's happening at sea with journals, interviews, photos, and videos.

Extreme 2004 is coordinated by the University of Delaware Marine Public Education Office. For more information, contact MarineCom@udel.edu.



	*How long does a typical dive last in the submersible Alvin?*