Dear RIDGE scientist,
On Tuesday March 30th, at 8:00 pm, the PBS science documentary NOVA will
air, for the first time, a program entitled 'Volcanoes of the Deep'
produced by Susan K. Lewis of NOVA-WGBH Boston.
The focus of the program is the recovery of four large, hydrothermally
active sulfide chimneys from a ridge crest hydrothermal system in the
Northeast Pacific within the Canadian Exclusive Economic Zone. The
aggregate weight in air of the recovered materials exceeds 12,000 pounds.
The program was supported by the American Museum of Natural History, the
University of Washington, and the National Science Foundation, and the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Major sections of the
recovered materials will be exhibited in late spring, 1999, in the
Museum's new Hall of the Planet Earth. Detailed research is being
conducted on the samples by more than twenty investigators to assess
correllations between temperature zoning, chemical gradients,
mineralogical variation and microbial activity within the steep
gradients in the walls of the chimneys.
The overall program included a detailed mapping and chimney selection
phase, in 1997, using the R/V Atlantis, the submarine ALVIN and the
robot JASON from the National Deep Submergence Facility at the Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institution. The second phase, in 1998, involved the
R/V Thompson from UW and the R/V John Tully from the Canadian Department
of Fisheries and Oceans. The remotely operated ROPOS, operated by the
Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility was used to recover the samples.
More information of the players:
NOVA is a science-focused PBS series that is seen by viewers in 54 countries.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova
The video is available for purchase at
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/shop/novavideo.html
The American Museum of Natural History
http://www.amnhonline.org/expeditions/blacksmokers/
The School of Oceanography at The University of Washington
http://www.ocean.washington.edu/outreach/revel
The National Facility for Deep Submergence Operations at Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution.
http://www.marine.whoi.edu/ships/rovs/rovs.htm
The Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility (CSSF), a not-for-profit
corporation based at the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, BC.
http://www.ropos.com
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RIDGE Office telephone: 541-737-8141
College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences fax: 541-737-8142
Oregon State University
104 Ocean Admin Building ridge at oce.orst.edu
Corvallis OR 97331-5503 USA http://ridge.oce.orst.edu
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