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Benthic Experiment Package (BEP) technical drawing, from Oregon State University.

The remotely operated vehicle ROPOS dives into the darkness during the VISIONS'11 expedition.

The R/V Thompson ~ 300 miles offshore as it works above Axial Volcano during the Visions'11 cruise.

The science party for VISIONS'11 Leg 2 as the R/V Thompson pulls into Victoria, Canada. 

Sunset views from the Thompson. It is time to go home.

Sulfide blocks the size of small cars at the base of the > 40 m tall sulfide edifice provide hints of active hydrothermal sites above.

Members of the Caris team in Alexandra, Va toast to VISIONS'11: "TO you as you used our newly installed HIPS software for data evaluation over Axial."   

Several meter tall active chimneys sprout along a a ridge of sulfide near the summit of the ~40 m tall suflide edifice discovered during the VISIONS 2011 program. The field was named the Dymond Field after Jack Dymond from Oregon State University. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF; ROPOS Dive R1474; V11.

Never too young to love the VISIONS'11 live stream from Axial Seamount. 

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Unknown diatom species

Skeleton of Asteromphalus heptactis

Plankton above Axial Seamount

Ceratium lineatum found above Axial Seamount

A close up view fo the edge of a snowblower vent billowing microbes and microbial produced material from the subseafloor. The biologically produced material and filamentous colonies of single-celled organisms coat the side and walls of a small collapse pit. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF; ROPOS Dive R1472; V11.

This very glassy basalt was sampled from the April 2011 lava flow by ROPOS from the southeastern side of the caldera on Axial Seamount. The glass forms when the 1200°C melt meets 2°C seawater. Scientists on land will use the glass to date the sample and to study its geochemistry and gas content. Credit: M. Elend, University of Washington. V11.

Gelatinous biological communities form bulbous deposits within the Bag City venting area.

This shrunken head and cup sit alongside a regular-sized styrofoam coffee cup - their small stature is the result of experiencing 150 times the pressure we experience on land.

Small back smoker spigots on the summit of the black smoker structure called El Guapo in the International District hydrothermal field. which in 2011 was venting 350°C boiling fluids prior to the seafloor eruption in April 2011. Abundant sulfide worms colonize the young sulfide deposits. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF; V11.

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R/V Thompson, close-up