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June 4, 2004 I am a seventh grade student in Lexington MA at Jonas Clarke Middle School. I have two questions to ask. Would it be worth the money to make a second Alvin? If so, would the government fund the creationof Alvin 2? -Andrew Andrew, Over the last few years WHOI, along with the U.S. research deep-sea research community and federal funding agencies, have been actively investigating the possibility of building a replacement for the existing Alvin. A study was conducted to determine the best approach and several options are being considered and there have been several national panels and committees that have been discussing the types of deep submergence vehicles that will be needed in the coming decades. W. Bruce Strickrott Hello: Hi Joey, I'll start by introducing myself. My name is Anthony Berry and I am currently training to be an Alvin pilot. I am 24 years old and I have been to the seafloor 11 times over the past year and a half. I think that the question you ask might vary from person to person but I would have to say that going to the ocean floor in Alvin isn't scary. On my first few Alvin dives I was nervous, but never scared. The word I would use to describe a dive in Alvin is intense. On a typical dive you can expect to see sheer cliffs, rock walls, hot water vents, and strange creatures you can never see on land. All this adds to the experience and makes it very exciting. I look forward to every dive I have in Alvin, and I am sure that most scientists feel the same way. I hope this helps you.
I get excited about oceanic research and have watched specials about the tubes and vents on the ocean floor. I have wondered whether the chemicals emitted from these tubes helps to rejuvenate the ocean and perhaps fight the pollution that is dumped continually into our oceans (cruise ships, etc.) Is there any hope that these emissions might help? Although I am not in favor of excessive or harmful dumping into the oceans, it is noteworthy that microorganisms and animals in the oceans do a remarkably good job of degrading a lot of the waste we put there. The important thing is to be intelligent in the places where we dump waste, places where there is a lot of current flow and where the oxygen in the bottom won't disappear. Thankfully, very little garbage lands around deep-sea hydrothermal vents. However, organisms very similar to the ones found in hydrothermal vents are also found in certain places on land. They are used to remove all sorts of waste and pollution, such as waste from farms and sewage facilities as well as toxic chemicals from industries. Often the gas produced from these organisms can be collected and burned as fuel for generating electricity. Jim Holden Hello my name is Marc Moro and my friend Tyler Smith are doing a biology research project on your expedition. We are from 9th grade at Mohawk Trail Regional High School from Buckland Massachusetts. We are very interested in this topic. I was recently looking at your Vent Biology on your web site and wanted to know about the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Your response would be greatly appreciated to the advance of our knowledge in this aspect of research. Thank you, Here are our questions: 1. Is there if any a difference between the clams or other organisms at that depth than the organisms at a depth close to the surface? The clams found near deep-sea hydrothermal vents are different than those found on beaches. The clams found at vents are often much larger than those found on land. One vent clam called Calyptogena magnifica can be about 6 to 10 inches long. These clams also have red blood, like human blood, instead of the clear blood that you normally see in clam on land. This is because the clams at the vents have iron in their blood like we do. This iron may help the clams live in this particular environment. Lastly, the clams at vents will often have bacteria living inside of them that will provide food for the clams. This is sometimes found in clams living near land but not often. Jim Holden 2. Is this ridge growing or shrinking according to the plate tectonics? The ridge where we are remains pretty much the same length. What happens though is that new ocean floor is being formed along this ridge using magma from underneath the ridge. Then this new ocean floor moves away from the ridge, half goes to the west and half goes to the east at our location. Eventually it travels across the ocean and all gets pushed underneath the continents where it melts and becomes magma again. 3. How long did the preparation of this journey take before actually leaving? The physical preparation can start months before a cruise actually leaves the dock. It is, of course, different for each group, but I usually start thinking about a cruise 2-3 months ahead. That gives me time to inventory our supplies and place orders as needed, as well as time to detail any new experiments we will be doing and make sure we have everything we need for those. Good preparation is important since you can't run to the hardware store if you forget something. Planning for most cruises can take much longer though. Once an idea is hatched, proposals must be written to apply for the funding to do the research. This can be a long process, so in some ways we are preparing for a cruise years in advance. Sheryl Bolton 4. What do you hope to discover at these depths that would not be found in Marianas Trench? A recent expedition to the volcanic arc just west of the Marianas Trench discovered several hydrothermal features, similar to those we are studying here, at varying depths. We are still in the early stages of trying to understand those systems, which lie along a subduction zone, so that we can compare them to hydrothermal systems on mid-ocean ridge spreading centers like the one we are at now. Sheryl Bolton Click HERE to learn all about the discovery of hydrothermal vents made 27 years ago. Click HERE to receive a 25th anniversary CD-ROM of the discovery.
Dear Scientist, Dear Dustin- You can also order a free CD of that material by following the instructions on the site and sending an email or letter to Woods Hole Oceanographic. Have a look at that information, I'm sure you'll find it informative. Thanks for Diving and Discovering with us. Best Regards,
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