Long-Range Exploration

Objective: Thirty years after the discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents, it is estimated that less than 10% of the global ridge crest has been mapped in detail or investigated systematically for hydrothermal venting. With the advent of routinely available AUV technology in a number of the world’s leading marine scientific institutions, we believe it is timely to propose placing hydrothermal exploration and the associated mapping of the ridge axis, on a new quantitative, regional- to global-scale footing. The plan for this WG is to identify vehicles with the necessary reliability, depth and endurance capability for long-range exploration of the mid-ocean ridge, define standard sensor packages and standardise calibration and data processing, develop a cruise plan, and identify the most urgent targets for such exploration work.

Chair - Colin Devey (IFM-GEOMAR, Germany)

Group Members - Chris German (WHOI, USA), Sidney Mello (Univ. Federal Fluminense, Brazil), Lucia Campos (Univ. Federal do Rio de Janiero, Brazil), Anton le Roex (Univ. Cape Town, South Africa), Cindy Van Dover (Duke University, USA), Gwyn Griffiths (NOC, Southampton, UK), Koichi Nakamura (AIST, Japan), Hidenori Kumagai (IFREE, JAMSTEC, Japan), Jiabiao Li (2nd Inst. of Oceanog., China), Marcia Maia (Univ. Brest, France)

(Working Group formed in 2008)

Translations of mission statement: French; German; Korean; Spanish