REVEL
Overview of the
REVEL-ROPOS '96 Cruise
John R. Delaney, Chief Scientist
The program has considerable appeal to the scientists because not only do the teachers willingly and enthusiastically pitch in at all levels and work very hard, but as one principal investigator said "it is delightful to realize again how exciting and unique the volcanic ecology of these systems is by seeing it through the eyes of the teachers". An additional benefit to all is the direct injection of high levels of teacher experience and enthusiasm into the class rooms of Washington state schools. The teachers clearly respond to the sense of discovery involved in cutting-edge research at one of the last frontiers on earth - the deep abyss. They will return to their classrooms in late August with a vast array of new information and teaching materials that will not show up in text books for years. Perhaps most important we are experimenting with a new type of scientific cruise that is a long term investment -- one in which direct involvement and communication of those responsible for educating citizens of the next generation provides hands-on experience with the nature and conduct of scientific investigations.
Key elements in the original ROPOS program include the following: 1) Biologists Juniper and his graduate student, Jozee Sarrazin have worked closely with UW geologists Vèronique Robigou and John Delaney to document changes in the structure and biological population dynamics of large actively growing hydrothermal sulfide deposits in the Main Endeavour Field. Hot seawater-derived fluids exiting the seafloor have been heated by subsurface volcanic activity. As the fluids mix with cold ocean-bottom water, iron pyrite (fool's gold) and anhydrite (a gypsum-like mineral) precipitate in the form of large, steep-sided metal deposits. The largest of these structures is locally known as Godzilla; it stands as tall as a 14 story building. These deposits eventually become large diffuser nozzles to the focused outflow of hot water. The diffusing influence enhances mixing and promotes colonization of the structures by a wide variety of exotic hydrothermal vent fauna -- each community gravitating to its own specific blend of mixed ocean water and vent fluid. The distribution of these special blend diffuse flow sites changes significantly on time scales of less than a year, but we don't know why, or how.
The early work of Juniper and Sarrazin clearly establishes that these systems vary dramatically from year to year, but we know very little at present about why and how the changes occur. Jozee, who is a native of Quebec, is in the final stages of completing her Ph.D. dissertation and this cruise is her final opportunity to collect data. She displays the consummate skill of a practiced professional as she uses the ROPOS vehicle with its different cameras and sampling capabilities to define quantitatively the population densities and diversity of the latest "neighborhood" configuration on the evolving sulfide structure known as S&M (for Smoke and Mirrors).
2) Chuck Fisher, an associate professor, and his two students Kathleen Scott and Istvan Urcuyo, are working on several projects that focus on the ecology of the tube worm communities and the physiology of the tube worms themselves. One project essentially consists of trying to understand in detail how one of the primary vent faunal types (tube worms) literally "make a living" from the active volcanoes that support entire ecosystems along submarine spreading centers. The balance of their studies are focused on the productivity of tube worms and their role in the food web of the vent community.
Chuck and Istvan's work on this cruise is focused on identifying key parameters that influence growth rates and community health among tube worms and the animals directly associated with them. In addition to monitoring temperature and some chemistry of the mixed fluids that continuously bathe the community, they are employing an innovative technique pioneered by Chuck in the Gulf of Mexico: a staining apparatus that is strongly reminiscent of a hair dryer dome. Placed over a small group of innocent worms, the dome is filled with a non-toxic dye that literally marks the worm's tubes for life with a particular color. Next year they will observe how much growth has occurred since the previous staining experiment by observing the new tube growth beyond the stained areas. By staining the same populations a different color each year, the researchers eventually produce a colorful time-tagged set of worms about which they have gathered a great deal of additional environmental and ecological information.
Katie is in the late stages of her dissertation and she is focusing intensely on the mechanism by which the symbionts (internal bacterial communities) of the tube worms obtain inorganic carbon from the blood of their host. She receives a few vital tube worms from each days dive and tracks the rate of carbon-14 uptake in a carefully controlled set of onboard experiments that relegate her to the isolated isotope van on the outside deck of the Thompson.
Istvan, a native Nicaraguan, is at an earlier stage in his program. In addition to his other duties, he is also the key person involved in collecting critical video imagery from the ROPOS operations when they are guided by Chuck.
3) Ian MacDonald, an associate research scientist from Texas A&M University, brings a special blend of talents to the cruise. He is revolutionizing the way in which all of data transmitted up the fiber optic cable to the ship from ROPOS are stored. The dive notes, selected images, and sample processing information are being compiled as an HTML script directly injectable into a web page. All of this information, including a running voice log, key measurements and observations, selected images and other kinds of information will be distributed to cruise participants on a CD ROM after the cruise as a hyper-text dive log. The notes will be uploaded to this web site at the end of the cruise. Ian is planning to test an innovative camera design that will document the minute by minute activities of an entire biological community for up to 100 hours. Embedded in the field of view of the camera will be an array of thermistors to record temperature gradients and changes within the area of interest. Ian and Chuck have collaborated for some years on studies of symbiotic faunal communities in the Gulf of Mexico.
4) Janet Voight, a marine biologist from the Chicago Field Museum, has been studying the lifestyle of octopods for a number of years in a wide variety of locations around the world. She has recently become interested in the role octopods may play as predators in and around the vent communities. Her component of the program will consist of a first-ever survey of any vent environment in terms of octopod populations and the deployment of baited traps that will allow her to assess the types and diversity of these shy predators as they make a living in a sunlight free world.
Eric Olson, who works with Dr. Marvin Lilley an associate professor at the School of Oceanography, University of Washington will collaborate closely with Ian to deploy an experimental device with several key sensors attached to probe the behavior of the hot vent water. Unusual features of the sulfide structures are overhanging ledges, called flanges, that trap high temperature vent water beneath them in small upside-down mirror-like pools. The hot water is buoyant and it tends to collect in the dome-like cavities beneath flanges much the same way as bubbles might collect beneath the deck of a sunken ship. To deploy sensors in this 350¡C pool, Eric and Marv have developed a device like and upside down clothes hanger, in a sense. The J-hook has floats at the top and a large curved hook that is inserted into the pool underneath the ledge. The buoyancy of the floats holds the hook in place until we return to remove it. Eric has a set of temperature and salinity measuring devices mounted on the tip of the hook. He will deploy the J-hook in a large pool beneath the flange that Ian is planning to deploy his camera. Between the two experiments we will have direct measurements of changes in the temperature and faunal behavior of a flange top (Ian's camera and thermistor array) and continuous information on how the temperature and salinity of the buoyant pool beneath the flange changes.
All of the above operations hinge on continued use of ROPOS, but like any complex mechanical-electrical systems, ROPOS must be maintained and repaired from time to time. The University of Washington scientists have put together a program that uses other instrumental approaches to the study of the deep sea for the periods when ROPOS is not available. The principal mainstay in the backup program is known as the CTD package; the letters stand for conductivity, temperature and depth. Neil Bogue and Tony Burke of the UW Oceanography Technical Services Shipboard Science Support Group provide the critical support needed by the science crew at all stages and levels of our scientific operations. They are especially well-versed in the use of the CTD. We will use it extensively to home-in on what we believe will be a major new vent field discovery on this REVEL-ROPOS cruise. They will also support our operations using the Krupp-Atlas Hydrosweep seafloor mapping system. Hydrosweep permits a rapidly moving research vessel like the Thompson to produce detailed real time maps of the seafloor in swaths that are up to twice the water depth.
The team of Dr. Deborah Kelley, Eric Olson, Marvin Lilley (from land via e-mail) and graduate student Scott Veirs are defining, and refining, a dive target that has been progressively sharpened by CTD surveying. Debbie, an Acting Assistant Professor at the University of Washington, School of Oceanography, is a marine geologist who is overseeing the CTD survey of the Mothra anomaly, the dive selection process, and the collection of Hydrosweep data along the Endeavour Segment. Scott has completed his first year of graduate study at the University of Washington and will be responsible for working up the data from the large number of CTD stations in the entire Endeavour study area. Scott is also the web master for this Site. Early indications of venting in a new location about 3.0 km south of the Main Endeavour Field caused Marv Lilley to dub the temperature anomaly "Mothra". We plan to visit the seafloor beneath the Mothra anomaly with ROPOS during this cruise to determine whether it is indicative of a totally new vent field.
An additional principal investigator in the program is Dr. Verena Tunnicliffe of the University of Victoria. Representing Verena onboard are two high energy Canadians: Laurel Franklin, a marine technician and biologist, and a new graduate student in biology at UVic -- Maia Tsurumi. Verena and Kim have collaborated in the Endeavour area Since the early 1980's and are largely responsible for much of the deep submergence vent research in Canada. Laurel is collecting biological specimens and insuring high quality documentation of the ROPOS collection process by photographing all key operations with both video and still camera. Maia's interests are evolving rapidly and seem to be focusing on the rapid evolution of eruption-triggered vent colonies in the NE Pacific, such as in the CoAxial area where a 1993 event released a pronounced bacterial bloom and started totally new tube worm colonies.
Three additional scientists onboard include: Ulrich Schwarz from the Technical University of Mining and Technology in Freiberg, Germany is interested in hydrothermal processes at active vent areas and in studying sulfide deposit formation and deposition; also on board is post doctorate student Dr. Steve delCardayre a microbiologist from the University of British Columbia. Jonathan Kaye is a second year graduate student from the University of Washington on his first sea-going cruise. Jon's interests are also in studying microbial activity in fluids, rocks, and animals from the Endeavour vent system.
As a consequence, tax payers, voters, and students generally know very little about how and why oceanographic research is conducted. Yet, we confront issues that span the gamut from the health and dynamics of the planetary environment to the origin and evolution of life. If the society is to continue to support this spectrum of inquiry we must forge new communication linkages between those who operate in the research arena and those who can carry the message and insights into the heart of our culture. The REVEL program is based on the premise that bright enthusiastic science teachers can become the vanguard of this movement.
Science teachers represent a large reservoir of well-educated, scientifically aware communicators who uniformly welcome the exposure to active scientific experiences. They will enthusiastically transmit those experiences to their classes and indirectly reach the parents of their students. One of the unexplored benefits of the larger research vessels entering the academic research fleet is the potential of using expanded lab space and carrying capacity to directly entrain in our research efforts the people responsible for educating our children.
In this manner, we effectively serve both long-term and short-term interests of both education and science. The short-term benefit from this approach is that the quality of instruction can be directly improved by introduction of new materials and fresh experiences into the classroom. The long-term benefit is that this type of linkage between the excitement and challenges of actual seagoing research and the national educational infrastructure could become routine. The enhanced awareness of science in general could begin to eliminate the popular image of scientists as slightly "wacko, frizzy-haired geniuses" accidentally or purposefully creating monsters. In short, several decades of this type of program across the spectrum of science could literally change the popular perception of science by society as a whole.
By the late 1980's, the US oceanographic community embarked on a path that has lead to renovation of its aging fleet of research vessels. The new generation of ships are larger, can stay at sea longer, and are much more modern than the group of research vessels they are replacing. Increased size was important for several reasons. Larger ships can be more stable in rough weather and are therefore better work platforms for a higher percentage of at-sea time. Larger ships provide more usable space for research laboratories and for berthing more scientists. As the research in marine sciences has become more interdisciplinary these last two factors become increasingly important.
With major support from the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research, the University of Washington operates the first of this new fleet of ships, the Thomas G. Thompson. As part of the operating agreement, the University reserves 45 days of shiptime per year for University-related instructional purposes and for use in placing the Thompson in a competitive position within the global ocean to attract funded research programs from many sources.
The REVEL program. has taken advantage of the 45-day educational reserve time and the increased carrying capacity of the Thompson to incorporate eight high school science teachers from Washington state, and one from British Columbia, into the REVEL-ROPOS research program defined above. The program directly benefits teachers by offering a hands-on, total experience in the world of deep submergence research. The teachers stand a regular watch, taking on the routine duties of any other member of the scientific team. They have selected research projects from a list offered by the researchers on board. The goal is not just to engage them in the process and culture of research, but to have them personally finish a specific research project by the end of the cruise. This goal requires that the teachers work extensively under the supervision of one or more of the resident scientists. For this reason, the projects dove-tail smoothly with the research being conducted on board, providing both researcher and teacher with tangible benefits by the end of the cruise.
A key player in the conception, implementation, and followup activities of the REVEL '96 program is the talented researcher/educator Véronique Robigou. A veteran of many deep submergence cruises and author of a number of research papers, Veronique's love of teaching allows her to combine firsthand experience in science with her own special teaching skills. Her specific role on this cruise is to operate in both worlds and ensure that maximum integration occurs between the scientists and teachers.
Most members of the scientific team are giving one or more lectures spaced evenly throughout the duration of the cruise. Our agreement with the lecturers is that they provide copies of all illustrations used in the lectures for reference use by the teachers. We also plan to have the teachers return to their classes in the fall with selected video "footage" of key portions of each of the ROPOS dives. Most will also take seafloor specimens of rock and vent animals back to the classroom as well. They will have access to archived data and other files through the web page being set up by Scott Veirs with assistance by Ian MacDonald. Scott has tutored each of the teachers in the arcane rituals of web use and maintenance. Most of them will use these skills and materials to create new curricula and classroom activities.
They will return to the UW in November for a one day workshop to review their individual and collective progress. By the two day April, 1997 workshop each teacher will present the full fruits of their labors to each other and to an invited assembly of interested colleagues and future REVELers. In collaboration with the UW Educational Outreach office, credits or inservice hours are offered to the participants.