How it all began
Instead of our weekly catch up talk, Tony Rathburn walked into my office, plopped down in a chair, and invited me on a three-week research expedition to the Gulf of Alaska - in search of cold seeps.
Figure 1: Tony with the multi-corer. He will be deploying this device to collect sediment cores.
What is a cold seep? It's a patch of the seafloor where cold water seeps upward and out of the sediment surface to mix with seawater above. Special organisms congregate and thrive here. The most dramatic seeps can be lush oases, but who is to know without a flashlight because life at seeps goes on in total darkness at the bottom of the ocean.
Unlike oases on land, cold seep ecosystems are not dependent on stores of underground water. Water is not in short supply anywhere in the ocean. Instead, cold seeps are dependent on certain chemicals dissolved within the seeping waters. Since their discovery in 1984, these deep-sea communities have been spotted around the world. Will they exist in the Gulf of Alaska?
As I consider Tony's offer, it's not just the chance to go aboard the Atlantis that entices me. I have been on several other research vessels, on other scientific expeditions, so the cruise itself is not new. It's the chance to dive in the deep submersible Alvin that draws me. I might get to dive in Alvin, to personally experience the icy and black depths of the north Pacific.
Alvin can dive at least the average depth of the deep ocean, just over 4,000 meters below the sea surface. Going to these depths is still like going to the moon. It's not that far but difficult to get there, and very few get to go. Since the seep organisms are down at the bottom, I want to go there too.
That day two months ago, Tony had come looking for someone to work for him on the upcoming expedition. Although "work" was the operative word, I really wanted to go and see things first hand. I gladly accepted the invitation.
Taking part on expeditions like this will give me the seagoing experience I will need as a professional scientist. On this cruise I am a volunteer. At Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO for short) there are many opportunities for graduate students to go to sea. You simply have to be invited to go along by the scientists. To be invited, you need to be a good scientist and a reliable worker. A positive attitude also helps.
Now I am waiting to fly out of San Diego, California, headed for Kodiak, Alaska. Head out with me and find out what goes on in the abyss. Meet you in Kodiak!
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A C T I V I T I E S
• Activity 1.1a
How good is your geography?
Point-and-click on the Gulf of Alaska?
• Activity 1.1b
What is the average depth of the seafloor?
Very few people have gone to the deep seafloor. Just how far is it? What does your intuition say? Take a guess.
a. 2.5 miles
b. 25 miles
c. 250 miles
d. 2500 miles
• Activity 1.1c
Seafloor conversion
Now that you know the average depth of the ocean in miles from Activity 1.1b, what is that depth in meters?
a. 3,800 miles
b. 3,800 meters
c. 4,800 meters
d. 4,800 kilometers
Having trouble finding a conversion equation between miles and meters? Check out our chart of units and conversions: click here.
• Who's who?
Meet the scientific team of the Alaska expedition.
Eléna Pérez
Dr. Tony Rathburn
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