An IGT sampling a black smoker chimney at a hydrothermal vent field.

iBase ID

382507

Creator

German, Chris

Title

An IGT sampling a black smoker chimney at a hydrothermal vent field.

Type

Still Image

Date

01/11/2012

File name

graphics/JasonCaymanStills/J2613120111121217_435.JPG

Notes

Caption from Oceanus magazine, Vol. 55, No. 1, Pg. 7:
The manipulator arm of the remotely operated vehicle Jason samples a stream of fluid from a hydrothermal vent. The fluid contains gases that are in liquid form because of the high pressure of the deep ocean.
R/V Atlantis cruise AT18-16, ROV Jason images.
Cruise intentions are to characterize the geology, geochemistry, microbiology and macrobiology of two new hydrothermal fields on the Mid-Cayman Rise: The Piccard hydrothermal field at ~5000m depth near 18° 33" N, 81° 43" W and the Von Damm hydrothermal field at ~2300m depth near 18° 23" N, 81° 48" W.
Image Of the Day (08/20/2012) caption:
During an "Oasis" cruise to the Mid-Cayman Rise in January 2012, the manipulator arm of the remotely operated vehicle Jason placed the intake tube of an isobaric gas-tight sampler (IGTS) into the stream of fluid gushing out of a hydrothermal vent. The fluid contains gases that are in liquid form because of the high pressure of the deep ocean. In the past, bringing such samples to the surface resulted in loss of the gaseous portion. WHOI scientists and engineers developed the IGTS to keep samples of vent fluid at high pressure until they can be brought to a lab for analysis. WHOI geologist Chris German led the expedition, which visited the deepest known hydrothermal vents in the world.
Oceanus Vol. 49, no. 3, December 2012 caption:
West of the Cayman Islands, three miles deep on the Caribbean seafloor, hydrothermal vents provide oases for communities of life that thrive under high-pressure conditions, without light or oxygen. Hot, chemical-rich fluids gush like geysers from vents; microbes extract energy from the chemicals to grow and provide the base of a food chain that includes shrimp, anemones, starfish, crabs, and fish. In 2012, WHOI scientist Chris German led an expedition returning to explore vents on the Mid-Cayman Rise. Discovered in 2009, these vents are the deepest known, and, with fluids above 400°C (750°F), among the hottest. They also spew from rocks not typically found in seafloor crust, with a typical mineral composition that alters the vent fluids chemistry. Under similar conditions, life on Earth may have originated and life on other planets and moons may also exist. Thus, the Mid-Cayman vents offer a natural laboratory to learn how life evolved on Earth and where to search for life elsewhere in the solar system. WHOI researchers used the remotely operated vehicle Jason to map the vents with sonar and gather samples of microbes, organisms, and rocks. At left, Jason pilots use the robots manipulator arm to deploy a specially made device to collect vent fluids and maintain them under high pressure.
Image Of the Day (12/27/2013) caption:
The slender snorkel of an Isobaric Gas-Tight sampler (IGT) draws a sample of hydrothermal fluids spewing out of a hydrothermal vent chimney as the mechanical arm of remotely operated vehicle Jason holds it steady. IGTs and Jason will soon be working together at a vent field on the East Pacific Rise, on a cruise led by microbiologist Stefan Sievert and marine chemist Jeff Seewald, who helped design the IGT. They will be sampling the fluids that flow diffusely out of the seafloor near vent chimneys. Diffuse flow is where most microbial chemosynthesis occurs in vent ecosystems.

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