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Did you know that the Earth rusts? And that
that can be a good thing for bacteria which may actually grow by the
same chemical reactions? The Iron-Oxidizing Microbial Observatory
(FeMO) uses the Loihi Seamount as a natural laboratory for studies
of Earth's rust-forming microbial inhabitants to address the basic
questions of who they are, how fast do they grow and form rust, where
and why do they do it, and what are their environmental impacts? Read
more ...
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Day
12 -- 22 October 2007 -- Some
Ongoing FeMO Research Projects
Carbon fixation
experiments with C13 and C14 are carried out to figure out how much of the
inorganic carbon is converted into organic molecules by Lo'ihi microbes.
Other experiments address questions about nitrogen metabolism in the deep sea,
using microbe incubations spiked with N15, a stable isotope of nitrogen.
Finally, culturing and genetic DNA analyses are carried out to decipher the
structure of the community building the microbial mats. Daily report
... |
Day
11 -- 21 October 2007 -- On the Remotely Operated Vehicle JASON II
Jason is a type of submersible called a Remotely Operated Vehicle or ROV. It's not a true submarine because it is not manned, and it is not a true robot because it is attached to the ship via a
tether. Jason's longest dives have been more than 4 days or 96 hours
long. Daily report
... |
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Day
10 -- 20 October 2007 -- Moon
Mats and Tripods
After sampling at Ula Nui, Jason is directed to explore to the east.
A huge mat is discovered with mounds 2 or 3 meters tall and pock marked with small craters. It reminds somebody of the surface of the moon and it is named the "Moon
Mat".
Daily report
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Day
09 -- 19 October 2007 -- A
Lonely Anglerfish
Shortly after Jason reaches the bottom a round gray fish is found sitting on the seafloor. It looks similar to a puffer fish in shape but has an enormous mouth with thick fish lips and a head so round that the eyes face forward. It
seems Angelina Jolie's look-a-like. Daily report
... |
Day
08 -- 18 October 2007 -- The
Geology of Loihi
Lo'ihi is a hotspot volcano like all the volcanoes of the Hawaiian chain.
It is located about 35 km (20 miles) south of the big island and it probably started erupting through the ocean crust about 400,000 years ago. Eventually the movement of the Pacific plate will carry Mauna Loa away from the Hawaiian hotspot and its source of lava. Lo'ihi will then likely become the most vigorous volcano of the Hawaiian chain growing to rival Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea in size. Daily report
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Day
07 -- 17 October 2007 -- Scientists
Swap
This morning we leave station to sail to Kona on the southwest side of the big island to exchange scientists. Two enormous cruise ships are laying offshore Kona. Alexis, Brad, Don and In Chieh go ashore in two trips and are replaced by Amanda, Dave, Katrina, Lisa and Roman. Once everyone is aboard, the Kilo Moana turns toward South Point for our return to
Lo'ihi. Daily report
... |
Day
06 -- 16 October 2007 -- Pit
of Death!
Craig Moyer tells me about diving into the Pit of Depth in the 3 man submersible Pisces 5. As Pisces descended into the pit the scientists looked out the thick acrylic windows of Pisces to see a layer of white microbial mat floating a meter or two above the bottom of the pit.
The water, like all hot-spring water, contained no dissolved oxygen so fish wandering into it
suffocated. Daily report
... |
Day
05 -- 15 October 2007 -- It is All About Iron
Loving Microbes
FeMO researchers do
care a lot about microbes
that are chemoautotrophs or chemosynthesizers, that is, these microbes
make their own food using chemical energy, iron in this case.
Daily report
... |
Day
04 -- 14 October 2007 -- Diving
into Pele's Pit
Jason's dive began
about 4 am in Pele's Pit. Pele is the Hawaiian volcano goddess and the
images captured by Jason's cameras show the orange colored rocks and
shimmering hot water that reveal the volcanic nature of Loihi. The pit
is the summit caldera of Loihi.
Daily report
... |
Day
03 -- 13 October 2007 -- Jason, Medea and the Golden Fleece
Jason
and Medea had been put in the water shortly after midnight. Medea is a
second smaller robot that hangs on the cable between Jason and the
ship. In mythology Medea is Jasons's wife and though her magic helps
Jason get the Golden Fleece. Medea's purpose for robot Jason is to
isolate Jason from the heave of the ship. She also has a camera and
thrusters so that she can move if the cable gets too close to Jason or
his work area. Daily report
... |
Day
02 -- 12 October 2007 -- Probing
Ula Nui with the CTD
After mapping out
Loihi seamount using the multibeam sonar system, we stop
over a site on the lower southern edge of Loihi. This site is called
Ula Nui and is about 5 km deep. Transponders are placed for later
navigational use by the Jason ROV and preparations are well on their
way for the first CTD cast. Daily report
... |
Day
01 -- 11 October 2007 -- Finding
FeMO
We get under way
about noon and head out through the channel leaving Honolulu harbor.
The captain announces that a small pod of dolphins has joined us and
are playing on the bow. We head southeast from Honolulu and watch
Molokai, Lanai and Maui pass off our port side. We are on our way to
find FeMO on Loihi Seamount. Daily
report ... |
Day
00 -- 9 and 10 October 2007 -- Getting
Ready in Honolulu
Scientists,
technicians and students arrive in Honolulu and begin loading
supplies, equipment and personal effects onto the Kilo Moana. Their
goal: researching the biological mats and hydrothermal vents of
Loihi Seamount, an underwater volcano regarded as the leading edge
of the Hawaiian hotspot. Daily
report ... |
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| All Snapshots | All Daily Reports by Shawn Doan |
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Deep
Sea Bacteria Spin Rust and Eat Nails for a Living
The microbial mats at Loihi can be thought of as a giant fabric woven together by the microorganisms that grow there. It is the bacteria that are responsible for spinning the iron oxides into the filaments or threads that create the larger mat fabric. What is remarkable is that this ‘yarn’ is composed mainly of rust, which is what most of us think of when we see oxidized iron. So far, we have only identified one bacterium that we are sure is involved in forming the helical twisted filaments or stalks.
But what about the tubular and Y-shaped structures?
Read this
preliminary science report by Dave Emerson ... |
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My
First Time at Sea 1
Even
though I worked with the Navy for a couple of years, I never got to
go out on a submarine or carrier, so the FeMO2007 cruise was my
first time out at sea. My first couple of days were spent mainly
trying not to be seasick, with amounts of work interspersed in
between. The hydrothermal vents, chimlets, pillows, and mats at the
bottom were amazing to see. Read this
report by Graduate Student En Chieh Chen ... |
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In
Situ Electrochemistry at Loihi and the AIS ISEA™ III
The
purpose of the ISEA (In-Situ Electrochemical Analyzer) is to be able
to describe chemically the environmental habitat of micro and mega
fauna at the bottom of the ocean. The instrument can also be used to
investigate diffuse and hydrothermal vent sites to aid geochemists
in characterizing these very different underwater environments.
Read this explanation on
Electrochemistry by Don Nuzzio ... |
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Dr.
Suz's FeMO Cruise Blog
Microbiologist and post-doc Suzanna Brauer has been cooking up bacterial media by the gallons down in the hydro lab of the R/V Kilo Moana. This soupy brew she will use to let Fe- and Mn-loving bacteria from Loihi Seamount grow and multiply so she can study them in her laboratory back home in Portland, Oregon.
Follow Dr. Suz's adventures in this
special FeMO blog ... |
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FeMO in the classroom through SERC!
FeMO collaborator and high school teacher Shawn Doan is helping out not only with disseminating FeMO results to a broad high school audience through the FeMO website. He is also part of an emerging collaboration between ERESE and the pedagogic services of the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College.
Check out his lesson plan on teaching the carbon cycle with a consideration of chemosynthesis ... |
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My
First Time at Sea 2
Back in Colorado I have been working on hydrogen generation experiments to optimize the production of H2 from the interaction of rocks, minerals and metals with water in a way that it can be used to culture micro-organisms.
These serpentinization reactions result in the production of H2 gas and often takes place deep within the Earth's crust
and maybe
even within the crust of Mars. The gasses released from this reaction can percolate through the crust and be vented at the Earth's surface, often at the bottom of the sea. The active vents on Loihi are an excellent place to look for micro-organisms that may be able to harness the energy available from
these reactions. Read this short
report by Graduate Student Lisa Mayhew ... |
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An
Opportunity to Link Chemistry and Microbiology at Marker 39
M39
seems to be one small area where you can observe a snapshot of how dynamic the entire
area of Pele's Pit can be. Essentially there are Fe-rich areas, sulfide-rich areas, hot fluids, cold fluids, and visible differences in the structure of the microbial
mats. It looks like this is an excellent place to explore fundamental questions about how the chemistry of this system defines who (microbiologically) is present and
active. Read this short
report by Alexis Templeton ... |
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JASON
Dive J2-307 Video Gallery
The
first videos have been processed by carefully selecting the best
possible video clips out of hours of digital video. More videos are
to come ... |
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JASON
Dive J2-308 Video Gallery
The
J2-308 was the longest dive of the FeMO2007 cruise, including the
entire spectrum of samplings and experiments. Click here to find 20
video excerpts depicting our actions in Pele's Pit. |
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| View All
Videos |
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Day
12 Image Gallery
The
days go on one-after-the-other in our 24/7 operation onboard the R/V
Kilo Moana. The advantage of that is of course that you also get to
witness the most spectacular sunrises. |
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JASON
Dive J2-311 Image Gallery
Often
new interesting features get discovered with active venting. During
dive J2-311 we found an interesting black spot dubbed the "crop
circle" with increased temperature readings in its core. |
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Day
11 Image Gallery
The many fridges and lab spaces on the 01 deck of
the Kilo Moana now contain hundreds of valuable scientific samples,
all in different stages of processing. |
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Day
10 Image Gallery
Let us take
you on a tour into the bowls of the R/V Kilo Moana. Also some of the
scientific crew are auditioning to become the next generation of
Jason pilots. |
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Day
09 Image Gallery
Another
elevator recovery was made today. Many scoop and rock samples and
the new ISEA-lander were recovered using the elevator.
The sea remains calm, as it has been for the last week, making for
an easy and fast recovery of the elevator. |
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JASON
Dive J2-309 Image Gallery
Back
again to Ula Nui today. Abundant scooping of microbial mats was done, suction cylinders
were filled up with the same fine bacterial mats and many rocks
samples were taken. |
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JASON
Dive J2-308 Image Gallery
The elevator was deployed to
achieve a larger payload while
exploring Pele's Pit in our second Jason dive. In total the Jason
dive lasted for about 28 hours. |
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JASON
Dive J2-307 Image Gallery
View
more than 40 still camera pictures taken with the JASON science
camera documenting the surveying, recovery of instruments and
sampling during our first dive to Ula Nui 1 and Ula Nui 2. |
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| All Daily Galleries | All JASON Dive Galleries |
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Who's in the driving seat? Most likely the captain, but
Hubert Staudigel, Shawn Doan and Anthony Koppers are steering hard to
bring you our findings from onboard the R/V Kilo Moana. Stay tuned for
daily image galleries, reports and video clips from ten Jason
submersible dives to the craters of Loihi, the youngest Hawaiian volcano
forming about 960 meter below the sea surface and 19
miles to the southeast of the Big Island. Follow a large group of FeMO
scientists as they carry out their state-of-the-art
biological experiments and collect new data on the microbial life which
has established itself on this special underwater volcano. |
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