Full Proposals for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Proposed IPY Activity Details

1.0 PROPOSER INFORMATION

(Activity ID No: 173)

1.1 Title of Activity
Biogeography and Geological Diversity of Hydrothermal Venting on the Ultra-Slow Spreading Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge

1.2 Short Form Title of Proposed Activity
Arctic Vents Expeditions

1.3 Activity Leader Details
Robert Reves-Sohn
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
USA

1.4 Lead International Organisation(s) (if applicable)
Woods Hole Oceanographic Insitution, USA
University of Bergen, Norway
National Institute of Polar Research, Japan
University of Bremen, Germany

1.5 Other Countries involved in the activity

1.6 Expression of Intent ID #'s brought together in this proposed activity
291,319

1.7 Location of Field Activities
Arctic

1.8 Which IPY themes are addressed
4. Exploring new frontiers

1.9 What is the main IPY target addressed by this activity
1. Natural or social science

2.0 SUMMARY OF THE ACTIVITY

We propose an international collaboration to study hydrothermal venting on the ultra-slow spreading Arctic mid-ocean ridge system. The Gakkel Ridge is a key target for hydrothermal studies because it has distinctive geological characteristics as a result of ultra-slow spreading (full spreading rate of 3-7 mm/yr), and because it is hydrographically isolated from the rest of the world’s ocean basins, which has important implications for vent field biological communities. In addition, major portions of the Arctic mid-ocean ridge system lie in deep water (> 4000 m) under the ice pack, rendering them inaccessible to traditional deep submergence technologies. We are solving this problem by developing robotic vehicles that will be able to autonomously detect, localize, survey, and sample deep-sea vent fields under the Arctic ice pack. As a result, our project is technology intensive and involves a strong component of discovery while at sea, which, when combined with our scientific objectives produces a compelling project that is very much in line with the objectives and spirit of the International Polar Year.
Our major scientific themes are the geological diversity and biogeography of hydrothermal vents on the Arctic mid-ocean ridge system. Our major technology theme is autonomous exploration and sample return with an explicit mandate to develop techniques and methods for eventual use in astrobiology missions to search for life under the ice covered oceans of Europa, a moon of Jupiter (through funding from the US NASA). Our plan is to stage a series of at least two expeditions to different portions of the Arctic mid-ocean ridge during the IPY period (2007-2008). A US-led expedition will target suspected hydrothermal vent sites under "permanent" pack ice at 85E and 9E on the Gakkel Ridge, and a Norway-led expedition will target sites in seasonally ice-free water over the Mohns Ridge. The results of these two expeditions will be combined to reveal systematic patterns regarding biogeography (through both community-level and genetic-level investigations) of vent-endemic fauna, to study the differences between basalt vs. peridotite hosted vent fields, and to improve our understanding of hydrothermal circulation at ultra-slow spreading plate boundaries where amagmatic extension and long-lived faulting are the dominant mechanisms.
Through a combination of both traditional and novel instrumentation technologies we will conduct hydrographic surveys to constrain the size, shape, and composition of hydrothermal plumes in the water column above the vent fields. At the Mohns Ridge, the Norwegian led efforts will then proceed as usual for vent field studies in open water using an remotely operated vehicle (ROV). On the Gakkel Ridge the shape of the plume, and the location of the positively buoyant plume stem, in particular, will be used to localize the source vent fields to ≤ 100m, and this information will be used to guide autonomous surveys (with autonomous underwater vehicles - AUVs) to generate fine-scale microbathymetry maps and photomosaics of the vent fields. The photomosaic imagery will be used to identify immobile sampling targets, and an AUV equipped with a rudimentary manipulator/sampler will then be used to acquire immobile (e.g., sessile) samples. The PUMA and JAGUAR AUVs are presently under development at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for this mission, with a customized AUV-mounted manipulator being developed at the University of Maryland's Space Systems Laboratory. The AUVs will be tested under the Arctic ice pack in summer 2006 from the USCG Healy.
After the expeditions samples and survey data will be disseminated to collaborating scientists at various institutions within our international consortium, such that a comprehensive suite of measurements and analyses will be conducted. Our formal effort will conclude with an international workshop to disseminate our results and focus future initiatives. Major funding for our proposed research is already in hand (see Section 3.10) through the US National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs (Arctic Natural Sciences section) and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In addition, the Norwegian-led effort to find and study vent fields on the Mohns Ridge has already gotten off to a fantastic start with the major discovery of new vent fields during the summer 2005 field season (http://195.37.14.189/public_html/sciencewriteratsea/Norway2005/web-content/Navigation/press/Norway.html). Scientists and engineers in Japan and Germany will contribute to the project by providing key personnel and equipment for the various Arctic expeditions, and by collaborating in post-cruise analyses of survey and sample data.

2.1 What is the evidence of inter-disciplinarity in this activity?
Inter-disciplinary research is a keystone of our proposed effort, starting at the top level where we are explicitly focused on understanding the relationships and linkages between the geology, geochemistry, and biology of hydrothermal processes at Arctic ridges. A strong inter-disciplinary thread weaves throughout our field program, where our shipboard science party will include biologists, aqueous and igneous/alteration geochemists, geophysicists, geologists, and ocean instrumentation engineers.

2.2 What will be the significant advances/developments from this activity? What will be the major deliverables? What are the outputs for your peers?
Our project will advance earth and life science by addressing the following first-order questions:

1. What are the physical, chemical, and microbiological characteristics of hydrothermal plumes from vent fields in the Arctic, what do they imply for geological processes along the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge and microbiological processes within Arctic Ocean plumes, and how do they compare to plumes from other ridges and in the open ocean?

2. How large are individual vent fields on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge, and what are their geologic settings and geochemical characteristics?

3. What are the biological characteristics of vent fields on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge, and how do these fit into the global biogeographical distribution of vent fauna?

4. How genetically and functionally diverse are vent-related ecosystems in the Arctic Ocean and how does this relate to variability in geological and geochemical environments (e.g., basalt vs. peridotite substrate)?

5. Are there biomarker signatures suitable for the remote detection of present and ancient microbial life that may be revealed through studies of peridotite-hosted hydrothermal fields?

We will also advance deep-sea instrumentation and underwater robotics technologies by addressing the following first-order technical questions (regarding the search for novel life forms on the deep seafloor and on Europa):

1. How can sensor data be utilized in real-time to allow an autonomously controlled vehicle to detect a deep-sea hydrothermal field and to localize its position on the seafloor?

2. How can computer vision be implemented on an AUV to allow autonomous sampling?

3. How can a robotic manipulator be integrated onto an AUV to allow autonomous sampling?

Our major deliverables will come primarily in the form of scientific and technical papers published in the 3-4 years following our field program. We will also release our survey data to the appropriate national and international database agencies within 2 years of acquisition.

2.3 Outline the geographical location(s) for the proposed field work (approximate coordinates will be helpful if possible)

2.4 Define the approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities?

2.5 What major logistic support/facilities will be required for this project?
Icebreaker
Helicopters
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
Remotely Operated Vehicle

Further details – We require an icebreaker with helicopter support for the Gakkel expedition. We will bring our own autonomous and wireline instrumentation to conduct the surveys and sampling. An icebreaker or suitably ice-strengthened vehicle is also needed for the Mohns Ridge expedition. Here again, we will supply our own ROV for surveys and sampling.

2.6 How will the required logistics be supplied? Have operators been approached?

2.7 If working in the Arctic regions, has there been contact with local indigenous groups or relevant authorities regarding access?
N/A

3.0 STRUCTURE OF THE ACTIVITY

3.1 Origin of the activity
This is a new activity developed for the IPY period

3.2 How will the activity be organised and managed? Describe the proposed management structure and means for coordinating across the cluster
Our project has a lead PI in each participating country (Reves-Sohn, USA; Pedersen, Norway; Nogi, Japan; Bach, Germany), and these 4 PIs form a de facto executive committee that will organise the field programs and subsequent data analysis. Each field program will individually be managed by the lead PI from the respective host country. The Gakkel vents expedition will be managed by Reves-Sohn, and the Mohns Ridge expedition will be managed by Pedersen, and these lead PIs will work with the executive committee to determine the allocation of ship time and resources by project for each cruise. It is expected that at least one scientist from each participating country will participate on each cruise, but this is not necessary. The over-riding concern is to manage the project so that each cruise will sail with the optimum set of resources (including personnel), and that the data and samples be distributed in such a way as to maximize the scientific return (while preserving intellectual property rights for funded PIs).

3.3 Will the activity leave a legacy of infrastructure and if so in what form?
We are developing the technology and equipment required to conduct deep-submergence operations, and more specifically operate AUVs, under the pack ice. Some of the equipment we develop will have a general utility in this regard, such that our work will contribute towards the goal of having AUVs available as general purpose tools for polar research.

3.4 Will the activity involve nations other than traditional polar nations? How will this be addressed?
No.

3.5 Will this activity be linked with other IPY core activities? If yes please specify
None.

3.6 How will the activity manage its data? Is there a viable plan and which data management organisations/structures will be involved?
Data acquired during each expedition will be disseminated according to the policies of the respective national funding agencies. In the US, the Gakkel Expedition, which is funded by both NASA and NSF, will follow the more strict data policies of the NSF. The raw data acquired during the expedition will be deposited in the relevant national databanks within 2 years of acquisition. The data acquired from the Mohns Ridge expedition will be deposited in databanks at the University of Bergen.

3.7 Data Policy Agreement
Will this activity sign up to the IPY draft Data Policy (see website)
Yes

3.8 How will the activity contribute to developing the next generation of polar scientists, logisticians, etc.?
AUVs represent a key technology for the future of oceanographic research in polar regions. A large number of PIs involved with this proposal are early career (pre-tenure) scientists and engineers with a commitment to seeing AUVs become a workhorse technology in the Arctic and Antarctic oceans and seas. Our project will play an important role in pushing this technology envelope, and in providing young scientists with exposure to polar research.

3.9 How will this activity address education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
The US-led Gakkel expedition has a formal mandate from US NASA to develop a comprehensive education and outreach program for that program. This effort will revolve around the "Dive and Discover" program - a web-based platform for providing near real-time access to ongoing oceanographic research (http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu). The program is targeted at middle-school students (Grades 6-8) and the general public, but it provides multiple layers of information to cover a wide range of educational experience. Educational modules will be developed in coordination with a master science teacher who will reside with the scientists and engineers developing the AUVs at Woods Hole in the summer of 2006. The Gakkel expedition will be advertised through pre-existing networks of grade schools, community colleges, and universities world-wide. A science teacher and a creative non-fiction journalist will accompany the scientists on the Gakkel expedition and will work to development content for our education and outreach program. All of these activities will serve to bring our work and salient results to the general public and to educators at the appropriate levels of detail. In addition, the editors at Scientific American have requested that an article regarding the Gakkel expedition and its analogues with exploration for life on Europa be written for their magazine. It is not yet clear whether this article will be written by some combination of the PIs or by a journalist, but this article will be published PRIOR to the expedition to raise public awareness. Moreover, it is anticipated that discovery on new vent fields and potentially novel life forms under the Arctic ice cap will lead directly to one or more publications in high-profile journals such as Science or Nature, further raising the awareness of both the public and higher-placed decision makers regarding the importance of exploration under the polar ice caps.

The Mohns Ridge expedition will include a teacher at sea program, and discoveries and results will be disseminated to the public through internet pages, newspaper articles and potentially also through a TV-documentary aimed at an international audience.

3.10 What are the proposed sources of funding for this activity?
The US-led Gakkel expedition is already funded by a combination of NSF ($0.5M) and NASA ($3.0M). An additional ~$200K has been raised from private sources for technology development for the project. The Norway-led Mohns expedition is currently being proposed to the Norwegian Research Council. Scientists in Germany and Japan are using the project as leverage to raise funding for individual PIs to either accompany one or both of the expeditions or analyze data or samples in the aftermath.

3.11 Additional Comments
Our consortium includes the following scientists who could not be entered into section 4.2 below:

Dr. Colin Devey, Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften, Germany
Dr. Robin Keir, Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften, Germany
Dr. Richard Camilli, Woods Hole Oceanographic Iinstitution, USA
Dr. Albert Bradley, Woods Hole Oceanographic Iinstitution, USA
Dr. Henry Dick, Woods Hole Oceanographic Iinstitution, USA
Dr. Jon Snow, University of Houston, USA
Dr. Ingunn Thorset, University of Bergen, Norway
Dr. Lise Øvreås, University of Bergen, Norway
Dr. Christoffer Schander, University of Bergen, Norway
Dr. Christa Schleper, University of Bergen, Norway
Dr. Nils-Kåre Birkeland, University of Bergen, Norway
Dr. Jan Kosler, University of Bergen, Norway
Dr. Bjarte Hellevang, University of Bergen, Norway

4.0 CONSORTIUM INFORMATION

4.1 Contact Details

Lead Contact
Dr Robert Reves-Sohn
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
360 Woods Hole Rd., MS 24 Woods Hole, MA
02540
USA

Tel:          1-508-289-3616
Mobile:   N/A
Fax:         1-508-457-2150
Email:       rsohn@whoi.edu

Second Contact
Dr Rolf Pedersen
University of Bergen
Allegt. 41 Bergen
N-5007
Norway

Tel:          +47 5558 3517
Mobile:   N/A
Fax:         +47 5558 9416
Email:      rolf.pedersen@geo.uib.no

4.2 Other significant consortium members and their affiliation