One of the cool things to eavesdrop on might be an undersea volcano called the Axial Seamount. It is 480 kilometers out in the ocean due west of Astoria, Oregon. In August, Delaney steamed out there with co-chief scientist Debbie Kelley. They scouted hydrothermal vents to wire up.
"Many people now think the volcanoes on the seafloor are where life originated on the planet," says Kelley. "One of the things we're going to see later on the dive are these vents called snowblower vents, which is where there is warm water issuing out of the seafloor at about 30 degrees Centigrade. With it, it is entraining novel microorganisms."
Monitoring ocean trends
This summer, Oregon State University scientists and engineers are also on the water. They’re testing instrument packages and buoys that will connect in part to the fiber optic network. OSU's Bob Collier says it's fair to say the data array will revolutionize oceanography.
"With this cable we really are able to provide a whole new way of looking at the ocean," says Collier, "which we honestly have never had before."
The West Coast instrument network falls under the umbrella of a larger project with locations in other oceans. It's called the Ocean Observatories Initiative. In addition to the buoy network under development along the U.S. East Coast, four additional sensor packages will be set up on moorings in the far northern and southern oceans.
最新
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27