News - April 24, 2001


 NSF PR 01-36
 Media contacts:
              Cheryl Dybas, NSF
                              (703) 292-8070
                                              cdybas@nsf.gov

              Shelley Lauzon, WHOI
                              (508) 289-2270 or 3340
                                              slauzon@whoi.edu
 Program contact:
              Phil Taylor, NSF
                              (703) 292-8582
                                              ptaylor@nsf.gov




 Scientists Release Images of Hydrothermal Vents Found in the Indian
 Ocean

 Images reveal array of animals, black smokers

 Scientists exploring a remote area of the central Indian Ocean seafloor two-and-one-half miles deep
 have found animals that look like fuzzy snowballs, and chimney-like structures two stories tall spewing
 super-heated water full of toxic metals. The findings, released on the Woods Hole Oceanographic
 Institution (WHOI) 's Dive and Discover Web site were made at the start of a month-long National
 Science Foundation (NSF)-funded expedition. (See: http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu/). The Dive
 and Discover site was supported by WHOI, and NSF.

 "This expedition has been four years in-the-making: we needed to get a remotely-operated vehicle
 (ROV), a large research vessel, and a multi-disciplinary group of scientists to a location distant from
 the U.S.," said Phil Taylor, director of NSF's biological oceanography program. "After the Japanese
 discovery of some hydrothermal vent activity in the region, excitement grew about what might be
 found, and how resident ecosystems in and around these vents might differ from those studied in the
 Atlantic and Pacific Oceans."

 Images and data from the seafloor may provide critical answers to long standing questions about the
 diversity of life in the deep sea, how animals move from place to place and how the ocean crust is
 changing. A Japanese team is reported to have discovered hydrothermal vents in the Indian Ocean last
 year, but little information has been publicly available.

 The 34-member team of scientists and engineers from a dozen institutions are working aboard the
 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's 279-foot research vessel Knorr. The ship left the Seychelles in
 late March to pick up additional equipment at Mauritius before heading to the central Indian Ocean, a
 remote area where three of the earth's giant crustal plates converge at what is called the Triple
 Junction. Scientists began mapping the area and deployed instruments to detect seawater temperatures
 higher than normal, an indication of possible hydrothermal activity. Higher temperatures were found,
 and the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason, which is equipped with numerous environmental
 sensors and cameras, was deployed for closer inspection. According to website reports, Jason's
 cameras revealed an array of marine life and chimney-like structures called black smokers because of
 their resemblance to smoke stacks. The first images came from an area near the Triple Junction at 25o
 19.2' S latitude and 70o 1.8' E longitude.

 White sea anemones resembling fuzzy snowballs cover the base of the smokers, plump mussels, snails
 and crabs live nearby, and thumb-sized shrimp swarm around the chimneys in search of food. Further
 exploration may reveal more animals and extensive vent fields. Many of the animals could be new
 species.

 ROV Jason and a suite of vehicles will explore other areas for vent fields. Scientists will collect
 biological samples and samples of vent and smoker fluid and plumes, rocks and sediment samples from
 the seafloor, and map the area before the ship returns to Mauritius on May 1.

                                   -NSF-