We use cookies to improve your experience, some are essential for the operation of this site.

John Kemp deploying CAMPER.

John Kemp deploying CAMPER.
John Kemp deploying CAMPER.
John Kemp deploying CAMPER.
John Kemp deploying CAMPER.
Comments (0)
336650
Linder, Christopher L.
John Kemp deploying CAMPER.
Still Image
12/30/2008
graphics/PolarDisc2/cl_20070801_agave07_camper_046.jpg
John Kemp sends Camper off on its final mission for this expedition. It brought back images of extensive, abundant fields of the yellowy-orange material, lining the crevices between seafloor rocks and sometimes billowing up and over them. Scientists believe it is microbial and/or material made by microbes. Further detailed analyses on shore will provide answers. "We did not find hydrothermal vents emitting high-temperature fluids," Humphris said. "We certainly found evidence that there is fluid movement through volcanic crust on the Gakkel Ridge, which appears to be supporting life."
Image of The Day caption:
WHOI engineer John Kemp sends the tethered vehicle CAMPER off on its final mission of the second Polar Discovery expedition. CAMPER was specially built to allow scientists to image and sample the seafloor as the icebreaker drifted through the ice pack. The research team, including WHOI geochemist Susan Humphris and biologist Tim Shank, searched for hydrothermal vents on the Gakkel Ridge, a line of mountains at the bottom of the sea where two tectonic plates are very slowly spreading apart. The scientists identified potential vent sites using temperature and chemical sensors on an autonomous underwater vehicle, then deployed CAMPER (= camera/sampler) to the nearby seafloor. Although the team did not find hydrothermal vents, CAMPER brought back images and samples of yellow-orange material covering the seafloor rocks. Studies have shown that the material consists of a stew of microbes that receive nutrients from fluids circulating through the oceanic crust.
Photo by Chris Linder
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
See Job Notes below for restrictions.
Labels
This item includes these files
Image
Image
Collections