Neptune Canada Wires Subsea Volcanic Region
On Sunday, Sept. 12, a team of scientists and engineers will embark from Esquimalt, BC aboard the research vessel T.G. Thompson on a deep-sea voyage that will complete installation of NEPTUNE Canada, the world’s first regional cabled ocean observatory.
Installation of cable and instruments at the Endeavour Ridge node site 300 km off the BC coast will give scientists an unblinking look at how the region—renowned for its volcanic activity—fits into and influences marine, climate and tectonic systems off Canada’s west coast.
“NEPTUNE Canada is taking power and the Internet to the dramatic environments of the mid-ocean ridge,” says marine scientist Dr. Mairi Best, co-chief of the expedition. “For the first time, anyone will be able to monitor this harsh but dynamic edge of a tectonic plate in real-time.”
NEPTUNE Canada is managed by Ocean Networks Canada for a consortium led by the University of Victoria. It pioneers a new generation of ocean observation systems that—using power and the Internet—provide continuous, long-term monitoring of ocean processes and events, as they happen.
Endeavour Ridge will be NEPTUNE Canada’s most challenging installation yet. During the month at sea, the team will lay three sets of 6 km long power and fibre optic cables between the node (installed in September 2009) and the scientific study sites. To do this across a subsea mountain range 2.3 km below the ocean surface, they need to avoid deep fissures, sharp glass-like rocks and hot vents spewing plumes of corrosive minerals and gases at temperatures exceeding 300°C.
“Imagine installing a high-tech laboratory in a mountainous zone using only remotely operated robots and add the challenges of operating at depth,” says engineer Lucy Pautet, co-chief of the expedition.
To start, 18 instruments will be installed at the site, including seismometers to measure tectonic processes, cameras, and moored instrument buoys to document the ocean currents and chemical fluxes. Scientists will also observe the unique deep-sea “black smoker” ecosystems that flourish in the main hydrothermal vent field.
On the way to Endeavour, two major science platforms will be installed at the Barkley Canyon node site on the continental slope. A two-tonne vertical profiler system—the first of its kind in the world—will measure nutrients and warmth from the seafloor 400 metres up to the surface. Wally II, the second generation of the world’s first Internet-operated deep-sea crawler, will measure processes of seafloor methane hydrates.
Live video will be streaming from the ship. Follow the installation on the NEPTUNE Canada blog and on Twitter. Depending on weather, there will be opportunities to interview the co-chief scientists via satellite phone or Skype. For more information visit www.neptunecanada.ca.
-- 30 --