Image Archive

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.

This low voltage node will be deployed during Leg 2 of the VISIONS'13 expedition at the Offshore site west of Newport Oregon at a water depth of ~600 m. It will provide a connection for the Endurance array Benthic Experiment Platform (BEP).

During the VISIONS'13 expedition the ROV ROPOS, installed >22,000 m of extension cables onto the seafloor using the remotely operated cable laying system (ROCLS) shown here attached to its underbelly. The cables will provide power and real-time, two-way communication to a diverse array of instruments and junction boxes.

Over 22 km of extension cables were deployed by the robotic vehicle ROPOS during the VISIONS'13 expedition.The cables were spooled onto drums and installed using the Remotely Operated Cable Laying System (ROCLS) latched beneath ROPOS.

Preparing to "capture" an underwater volcano in the northeast Pacific Ocean.  

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V'13 Expedition Main Image

Locations NSF's Ocean Observatory Initiative Sites. Credit: University of Washington, Center for Environmental Visualization.

OOI Map with RSN inset

OOI RSN cable system map

Secondary Cable Image with ROPOS ROV

Once the cable, terminations and flange box are loaded onto the ROCLS drum (shown here with the outer end of the cable, termination, connector, etc. strapped to the drum) they are stored in the warehouse until it is time to load the cable drum onto the ship for installation.