REVEL
1996 Study Site Orientation

Participants in the 1996 REVEL program will focus primarily upon biology of the hydrothermal vent systems located on the Endeavour segment of the Juan de Fuca submarine volcanic ridge. Life among the vents is unusual, to be sure, and the peculiarities of the ecosystems that we will study reflect the extreme environment of deep sea volcanism. Thus, to begin gaining familiarity with the creatures of the vents, it is useful to appreciate first where they live, relative to our local environment and the Earth as a whole.

To orient you to the scale and geography of the 1996 REVEL study site, Dr. John Delaney has devised a way for you to take a "virtual" field trip to the seafloor in the Northeast Pacific Ocean . By traversing (and sometimes "flying" through) Earth terrains of progressively higher resolution, you will begin to see how the ecosystems of the deep sea hydrothermal vents are an important part of the Earth; vent life occupies a unique and extensive niche in the biosphere, and are likely interconnected with a suite of global processes through oceanographic linkages yet to be illuminated.