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April 24, 2001 What is it like being a marine biologist? My town is Palm Desert, CA. Michelle Thanks for the question, Michelle. Being a marine biologist is great! The oceans on Earth hide many mysteries and every day we strive to solve them. We are constantly learning new things about the animals that live in the sea, and that makes every day at work exciting and fun. Of course there are also times when we have to sit at our desks and write papers, go to meetings at 8 in the morning, and there are times when the analytical equipment in our labs isn’t working, or we have to work long hours. None of that, however, compares to the adrenaline of realizing that you have figured out how a strange and wonderful marine animal makes a living in some unique way; like the use of slight vibrations in the water rather than eye sight for finding prey, or the use of bacteria inside of its body for nutrition instead of a stomach, or the use of a toxic chemical known as hydrazine (found in jet fuel) for flotation. To me, being a marine biologist means that not a day goes by that I don’t love to go to work. It’s very rewarding and contributes to our understanding of how animals interact with each other and how they are influenced by the environment on our planet. It’s a very important job to be taken seriously, but its also a lot of fun. Perhaps you can be part of the next generation of marine biologists! Good luck! Hello. My name is Eva Rosenberg, and I am one of Miss Sheild’s seventh grade students in Lexington, Massachusetts. I’ve been following the cruise, and I have a few questions. What causes a vent site to become inactive? How long does the typical vent site remain active for? On April 20, a new black smoker field was discovered. What types of clues lead you to find a field? It must be so exciting to get to name a new active site! Thank you for your time, and thanks so much for keeping all of your followers updated daily. It’s so much fun to be able to email halfway across the world! Sincerely, Hello Eva: Thanks for the interesting questions. I will try to give you brief answers to them all. What causes a vent site to become inactive? There are two possible causes. First, as you know, you need a heat source to drive hydrothermal circulation. If the heat source gets cooled down, then there is nothing to make the seawater flow in the oceanic crust so the vent will become inactive. The second cause is that the minerals that are precipitating from the fluid as if flows to the seafloor clog up the the channels in the chimney where the fluid. In this case, the fluid will find another path to the surface. How long does the typical vent site remain active for? We don’t really know. We think that the vents on the East Pacific Rise are probably active for tens to maybe a hundred years. However, there is a very large site in the Atlantic that has been dated using radioisotope dating techniques. The results suggest that the site has been active for at least 20,000 years, although in fits and starts. On April 20, a new black smoker field was discovered. What types of clues lead you to find a field? Check out the Hot Topic on The Hydrothermal Vent Prospecting Team in the Daily Update of the website. There you will find out all about using hydrothermal plumes in the water column to locate parts of the seafloor where there are vents. Say hello to Ms. Sheild for me! |
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