New species and a new cross roads has been discovered only this summer on the Mid-Cayman Rise. The deepest deep-sea vents made headlines last year and are set to make new headlines during the upcoming cruise, OASES - setting out at the dawn of the new year (Jan 6th). This summer, remotely operated vehicles, Institute for Exploration’s (IFE) Little Hercules ROV and NOAA’s Seirios camera sled, spotted an unusual sight - tubeworms and swarms of shrimp co-inhabiting. Shrimp swarming on vent chimneys are usually restricted to vents along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and in the Indian Ocean; whereas clumps of brilliant tubeworms are usually restricted to vents in the Pacific Ocean. How these two ended up together is a mystery of plate movements, dispersal and evolution. The OASES expedition will start to provide some clues as they collect samples and explore the newly-discovered vents more closely. You can join them on the cruise to enjoy the discoveries in near-real time through their blog.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
New Year, New Vents
Exploration of new vent regions has yielded more exciting observations - especially in the Indian Ocean and along the Mid-Cayman Rise (see map). New species have been discovered on the SW Indian Ridge, including potentially new Yetti crabs (see Deep Sea News's coverage, and a step behind, BBC's story).
New species and a new cross roads has been discovered only this summer on the Mid-Cayman Rise. The deepest deep-sea vents made headlines last year and are set to make new headlines during the upcoming cruise, OASES - setting out at the dawn of the new year (Jan 6th). This summer, remotely operated vehicles, Institute for Exploration’s (IFE) Little Hercules ROV and NOAA’s Seirios camera sled, spotted an unusual sight - tubeworms and swarms of shrimp co-inhabiting. Shrimp swarming on vent chimneys are usually restricted to vents along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and in the Indian Ocean; whereas clumps of brilliant tubeworms are usually restricted to vents in the Pacific Ocean. How these two ended up together is a mystery of plate movements, dispersal and evolution. The OASES expedition will start to provide some clues as they collect samples and explore the newly-discovered vents more closely. You can join them on the cruise to enjoy the discoveries in near-real time through their blog.
New species and a new cross roads has been discovered only this summer on the Mid-Cayman Rise. The deepest deep-sea vents made headlines last year and are set to make new headlines during the upcoming cruise, OASES - setting out at the dawn of the new year (Jan 6th). This summer, remotely operated vehicles, Institute for Exploration’s (IFE) Little Hercules ROV and NOAA’s Seirios camera sled, spotted an unusual sight - tubeworms and swarms of shrimp co-inhabiting. Shrimp swarming on vent chimneys are usually restricted to vents along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and in the Indian Ocean; whereas clumps of brilliant tubeworms are usually restricted to vents in the Pacific Ocean. How these two ended up together is a mystery of plate movements, dispersal and evolution. The OASES expedition will start to provide some clues as they collect samples and explore the newly-discovered vents more closely. You can join them on the cruise to enjoy the discoveries in near-real time through their blog.
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