Image Archive

Leslie Sautter

During the VISIONS'13 expedition, the R/V Thompson and the ROV ROPOS will be critical to successful deployments and testing of extension cables on the seafloor as part of  NSF's Ocean Observatories Initiative regional cabled observatory.

During the VISIONS'13 expedition, the R/V Thompson and the ROV ROPOS will be critical to successful deployments and testing of extension cables on the seafloor as part of the NSF's Ocean Observatories Initiative cabled component.

A variety of geophysical sensors will be deployed at the base of Axial Seamount to monitor seismic events on the Juan de Fuca plate.

The Benthic Experiment Package (BEP) is composed of a hazard-resistant frame (shown here), the inside of which hosts an UW-APL-designed Low Power communications housing, and a variety of sensors to measure oceanographic properties that include acidity (pH), carbon dioxide, salinity and oxygen concentrations, and currents. A hydrophone that will be mounted outside of the frame will be used to detect sounds in the ocean. The BEP is scheduled for installation in 2014 at the Endurance Offshore site that is part of the Endurance Array's Newport Line. This site is also the location of one of the RSN Primary Nodes, which is the power and data hub for the BEP Low-Power Junction Box, which is in turn the power and data hub for a variety of instrument platforms.

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Egress of nutrient-rich, warm diffuse flow fluids from the seafloor and from hydrothermal vents at Axial Seamount support dense and divers communities of tube worms (red plumes), limpets and microbes. Thick biofilms of white, filamentous bacteria commonly coat the outer casings of tube worms. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF, V13.

OBSBB images

This down-looking view of the Mushroom Hydrothermal Vent and adjacent Inferno chimney shows where the high definition video camera, fluid sampler (OSMO), and 3D temperature  (thermistor) sensors will be placed. The HD camera and thermistor array will be cabled. In concert, these instruments will allow characterization of how fluid chemistry and temperature impact biological communities, and how these evolve over time in response to volcanic and seismic events.

Additional Short-Period Ocean-Bottom Seismometer images.

This custom instrument was developed by Bill Chadwick/PMEL.  It measures the inflation/deflation of the ground using a precision pressure instrument and a very precise tilt meter (measures in micro-radians) that enables detection of the volcano "breathing" as melt (magma) moves in and out of the chamber.

The HD video camera (with pan/tilt and LED lights) will be positioned near the Mushroom Vent at the Ashes Vent site in Axial volcano.  The goal is to image the physical and biological activity on this vent.

The digital still camera (with pan/tilt and LED lights) will be positioned at the International District in Axial volcano's caldera.

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This instrument, nicknamed a "Mosquito" was deployed in 2011 at the summit of Southern Hydrate Ridge. It will be recovered during VISIONS'13 and replaced by two additional mosquitos. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF; V11.

The Offshore Endurance site at 600 m water depth will host two cabled moorings and a Benthic Experiment Platform with numerous physical, chemical and biological sensors, as well as a digital still camera.

A variety of extension cables with underwater wet-mateable connectors plug into the junction boxes and nodes. In concert, these assets will provide power and communications to >100 instruments on the RSN. The drums are prespooled and on the ship they are loaded onto the the remote cable laying system on ROPOS (ROCLS).

Lunar tides, storms and tsunamis strongly impact pressures at the seafloor and flow of fluids in the oceanic crust. This uncabled pressure sensor was deployed at the Lost City Hydrothermal Field in 2003.

This broadband seismometer is waiting to be deployed inside a caisson on the seafloor. It was deployed in 2003 during a UW program funded by the W.M. Keck Foundation.

Short-period seismometers provide real-time information on earthquakes at mid-ocean ridges. In 2003, an array of seismometers was deployed on the Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, north of Axial Seamount. The one shown here, was deployed inside a borehole in a pillow basalt in the Mothra Hydrothermal Field, providing better coupling to the seafloor. This project was funded by the W.M. Keck Foundation.

'Osmo' samplers draw hydrothermal fluids into small capillary-like tubing and allow long-term sampling of diffuse and black smoker hydrothermal fluids, as well as fluids from methane seeps. Osmo samplers in this image (white canisters) are attached in an in situ 'microbial' incubator deployed inside the walls of a black smoker chimney called Gremlin. The osmo samplers allowed collection of vent fluids for 1-year, while the microbial incubator collected hundreds of temperature measurements inside the wall of the black smoker. Novel microbes colonized mineral wafers and new sulfide precipitates inside 4 discrete chambers within the incubator. This experiment, lead by D. Kelley, University of Washington, was designed to look at the upper temperature limit of life. Osmo samplers will be deloyed at the ASHES hydrothermal field and at the summit of Southern Hydrate Ridge during the VISIONS'13 expedition.

This temperature-resistivity sensor was deployed in the 380°C black smoker chimney called 'Sully' in 2000. A similar probe will be deployed in the International District during the VISIONS'13 expedition.

VISIONS'13 Main Image

The temperature-resistivity instrument measures, in real-time, the temperature of black smoker fluids (>400°C) and the resistivity of the fluids as a proxy for chlorinity. Vents at Axial Seamount are boiling, producing fluids that are very low in chloride content (salts). Boiling is an important processes because it enhances precipitation of precious metals in seafloor black smokers.

The R/V Thompson holds station in Nootka Sound, an inlet on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The R/V Thompson on its way to the NE Pacific, heads towards the Ballard locks. The locks provide passage to Puget Sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca, the gate way to the Pacific ocean.

Some of the special capabilities of ROPOS are that it can lift up to 4,000 lbs and directly couple to Junction Boxes for deployment to the seafloor, such as the one shown here. This was a test deployment of a Junction Box "shell", not yet fully outfitted with electronics, cables and sensors conducted in 2011.