News Archive

Submissions encouraged for a G^3 special theme on "Submarine Volcanic Eruptions"
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Bill Chadwick, Ken Rubin, Dave Butterfield, Tim Shank and Joe Resing are in the process of organizing a theme for G^3 entitled "Submarine Volcanic Eruptions: Studies of Geological, Chemical, and Biological Processes along Intra-oceanic Arcs and Backarcs". As a part of this process, titles of 10 prospective submissions must be submitted to the theme section. Please submit proposed titles, including authors, of manuscripts that you will consider submitting to this theme. Also, please continue to share this announcement with others and suggest suggest changes to the theme description.
Soliciting Ideas for 2010 Ridge 2000 Meeting(s)
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Ridge 2000 Program and Steering Committee are soliciting ideas regarding themes and topics to be highlighted during a 2010 meeting that will help accomplish some of the Integration and Synthesis activities that are current foci of Ridge 2000 research. Please send any suggestions to the Ridge 2000 Program Office and/or feel free to discuss ideas with members of the R2K Steering Committee or your colleagues. Planning for this year's meeting will need to begin soon, so that it can be held in summer or early fall.
Deadline for Ridge 2000 proposals to NSF is April 7, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
The deadline for Ridge 2000 proposals to the National Science Foundation is April 7, 2010. Proposals for the Ridge 2000 Postdoctoral Fellowship follow the same guidelines and deadlines as full proposals. Please refer to the program solicitation on the NSF website for more information or contact the cognizant NSF Program Managers, the Ridge 2000 Program office, and R2K Steering Committee with specific questions. Please be advised that PIs that have received funding from NSF for Ridge 2000-related research are expected to be compliant with NSF Ocean Sciences and Ridge 2000 data policies, described in memos sent by the Ridge 2000 Program Steering Committee. Both the data policies and memos are available on the R2K website. Also note that the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide was updated in January 2010.
Special volume of "Geobiology" about the Ridge 2000 ISS, East Pacific Rise (8-11°N)
Monday, January 11, 2010
A group of papers on the Ridge 2000 Integrated Study Site at the East Pacific Rise is being compiled for a special volume in "Geobiology" (citation index 3.8). The contents of the papers currently proposed range from geochemistry to microbiology to time-series plume fluxes at the 9°50' EPR vent sites, but could broaden out disciplinarily and geographically to include 8 - 11°N EPR. The organizers would like to hear from those of you in the Ridge 2000 community who would be interested in submitting your research to this special volume. Please contact Sarah Bennett and Katrina Edwards with a proposed title, author list and potential submission date.
Listing of data associated with Ridge 2000 funded projects and Data Compliance Plans
Monday, January 11, 2010
A new webpage has been added to the MGDS/Ridge 2000 Data Portal that will help to locate data associated with a particular NSF award number or Principle Investigator. In addition, there is now a URL that points directly to the R2K Shore-Based Analysis Plans (= Data Compliance Plans) that PIs have submitted to date. We remind PIs with R2K awards that Data Compliance Plans and periodic updates to those plans, along the lines that have been outlined to the R2K community in earlier memos and guidelines should be submitted to NSF program managers, with copies to the MGDS Data Portal and the R2K Program Office.
Ridge 2000 Data Compliance Effort
Friday, December 4, 2009
A memo from the Ridge 2000 Steering Committee was sent by e-mail on December 1, 2009 to the R2K community to ask all PIs to either submit or update their Data Compliance Plans (DCPs), also called Shore-Based Analysis Plans. Please refer to the R2K website or download the full memo.

If PIs are not compliant with NSF-R2K data policies or have not submitted Data Compliance Plans (DCPs) for R2K grants they have received or are currently working on, they should do so as soon as possible and have them cleared by NSF. For those that submitted DCPs last April (2009), it is important to update their DCPs and communicate those to NSF, the R2K Data Portal and Program Office staffs. The upcoming Fall AGU and Ocean Sciences meetings in San Francisco, CA and Portland, OR, respectively, are excellent opportunities for PIs to discuss their data plans with NSF program managers and R2K Data Portal and Program Office staff. R2K and MGDS will share a booth at the Fall AGU (booth #307) and the staff will be glad to receive data and answer questions to facilitate the submission of data sets. It is likely that NSF will be contacting R2K PIs early in 2010 regarding the status of their data compliance with NSF and R2K data policies, which could play a role in continued or future funding decisions.
More information...
Ridge 2000 Party at the AGU Fall Meeting
Friday, November 6, 2009
The Ridge 2000 Program will host a party at the AGU Fall meeting on Wednesday, December 16 at Azie (826 Folsom St- next door to sister restaurant Lulu's, one block from the Moscone Convention Center) from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.
Applications to host a speaker in the R2K Distinguished Lecturer Series, deadline: November 1, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Applications are available online to host a speaker in the R2K Distinguished Lecturer Series. Applications should be submitted to the Ridge 2000 Program office by November 1, 2009. The 2010 DLS speakers are: Suzanne Carbotte (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory), Matt Schrenk (East Carolina University), Bill Seyfried (University of Minnesota), and Adam Soule (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution). Each speaker will give a general public lecture and a scientific audience lecture at three host institutions. For more information, please visit the R2K website: http://www.ridge2000.org/dls/.
Special sessions at 2010 Ocean Sciences Meeting
Friday, September 18, 2009
The deadline to submit an abstract for the 2010 Ocean Sciences meeting in October 15. Special sessions of interest include: IT56: Geohydrology, Rock-Water Chemical Interactions and Biological Processes at Hydrothermal Sites: Oceanic Spreading Centers and Subaerial Hot Springs (Convenors: D. Fornari, C. German, B. Govenar, R. Sohn), IT54: Observatory Science in the Deep Marine Subsurface: Exploring the Deep Biosphere and the Subseafloor Ocean (Convenors: B. Glazer, B. Orcutt), IT11: Ocean Exploration (Convenors: R. Beach, N. Alvarado), MT03: Ocean Technology and Infrastructure Needs for the Next 20 Years (Convenors: D. Glickson, S. Roberts).

Description of IT56: Geohydrology, Rock-Water Chemical Interactions and Biological Processes at Hydrothermal Sites: Oceanic Spreading Centers and Subaerial Hot Springs: Oceanic spreading center hydrothermal systems and subaerial hot springs represent complex environments where microbial and chemosynthetic biological communities are sustained by rock-water interactions over a broad chemical and temperature range. The hydrology and spatial/temporal variations of hydrothermal systems in response to tectonic and magmatic events provide important constraints to understanding and modeling these unique environments. This session will provide an opportunity for presenting results of recent work aimed at integrating different observations from deep-ocean and land-based studies into conceptual, semi-quantitative, or quantitative models to help predict phenomena and responses to change and variability at hydrothermal systems.
More information...
Submissions encouraged for themed volume of G3 on slow-spreading ridges
Friday, September 18, 2009
Submissions are encouraged for a new themed volume “Life, energy and material cycles at slow-spreading ridges" (Theme Editors: Colin Devey, Nicole Dubillier, Jian Lin, Nadine Le Bris, and Doug Connelly). This theme is intended to provide a focus for results of recent studies on slow-spreading ridges globally. Because of their complex interplay between magmatism, tectonism and hydrothermalism, determining fundamental principles of how slow-spreading ridges and their associated ecosystems work has required time-consuming and costly studies of relatively large areas of the seafloor, often with remotely-operated or autonomous vehicles. The first fruits of a new generation of such studies are now becoming available. This theme should showcase and assemble these results. The initial closing date of the theme will be October 2011.
Synopsis and science report available from NE Lau Eruption Response Cruise
Friday, September 18, 2009
A synopsis from the Ridge 2000/MARGINS/NOAA-OE-sponsored NE Lau Eruption Response Cruise (5-13 May), led by Chief Scientist, Joe Resing is available, and the full science report is available to download on the “Time Critical Studies” page of the R2K website, under “Latest news”: http://www.ridge2000.org/science/tcs/index.php.
Cruise schedules updated on R2K website
Friday, September 4, 2009
Cruise schedules to the three Integrated Study Sites: East Pacific Rise (8-11°N), Juan de Fuca Ridge (Endeavour Segment), and the Eastern Lau Spreading Center, as well as other hydrothermal vent fields in the same geographic areas, have been updated on the R2K website. The cruise schedules can be found on the webpage of each ISS, under “Research”.
Abstracts for the 2009 R2K Workshop are available online
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
A compilation (.pdf) of the abstracts, including a list of the poster presentations, for the upcoming Ridge 2000 Integration and Synthesis Workshop to be held October 1-3, 2009 in St. Louis, MO are available on the R2K website.
NEW! GeoMapApp v2.2 - Released July 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
GeoMapApp v2.2 includes a newly designed menu system with cascading and tear-off menus to facilitate exploration of a large assortment of ocean and terrestrial datasets. The new Layer Manager lists selected layers and enables re-ordering and rendering with variable transparency. Each layer has its own Info Button that displays data source and citation information as well as a Zoom Button to scale the dataset to the map window. Other new features include a Go To option that allows direct zooming to areas of interest, an Add Image Overlay option for importing georeferenced images, and Load KMZ functionality for importing Google Earth files. As always, new content is continually being added to GeoMapApp. Recent additions include nautical charts and geologic maps. Please visit www.geomapapp.org/ for more information. A companion user guide is available at: http://www.geomapapp.org/GMA/newHelp/GMAHelp_2.html.
Ridge 2000-sponsored special session at 2009 AGU Fall Meeting
Friday, July 24, 2009
There will be a Ridge 2000-sponsored special session at the 2009 AGU Fall Meeting, titled: "New Insights from Integrated Multidisciplinary Studies of Oceanic Spreading Center Processes - Ridge 2000 Research". To submit an abstract for this session, please select special session, "OS03". If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the conveners- Dan Fornari, Costa Vetriani, Jeff Seewald, and Ken Rubin.
Description of the Ridge 2000-sponsored special session (OS03): The primary goal of the Ridge 2000 Program (R2K) is to achieve an integrated, holistic understanding of global mid-ocean ridge (MOR) and oceanic spreading center processes through directed study at specific sites as well as comparison between those sites and other well-studied oceanic spreading centers. This session will provide an opportunity to explore and integrate the breadth of data available for R2K Integrated Study Sites (ISSs) by comparing across ISSs as well as to other spreading centers to find linkages between the phenomena associated with energy transfer from the mantle to the crust and into the ocean via MOR hydrothermal systems, which utilize the hydrologic regime in the crust to control the distribution of fluids, energy and biota.
More information...
Abstracts submitted for upcoming Ridge 2000 Workshop
Friday, July 24, 2009
Over 80 registered participants have submitted abstracts for the upcoming R2K Workshop (October 1-3, St. Louis, MO). Many of the abstracts are multi-authored and directly seek to combine relevant datasets from one or more of the ISSs, both thematically and across disciplines, as well as comparisons to processes and features at other well-studied oceanic spreading centers. The objectives of the Organizing Committee, to require abstracts for all participants and to have 50-60 poster presentations, were to stimulate integration and synthesis activities related to Ridge 2000 research. The abstracts are being compiled into a pdf file and will be available online within the next few weeks. Thank you to all those who submitted abstracts and are planning to attend the workshop! More information...
Report and video clips from Seafloor Mining Workshop (April 1-2, 2009)
Friday, June 12, 2009
A report from the Science and Policy Workshop, “Deep-Sea Mining of Seafloor Massive Sulfides: A Reality for Science and Society in the 21st Century” is available to download (pdf) on the workshop website on the “Science and Policy Workshop” page, under “Workshop Publications”. Video from the public portion (Morse Colloquium) of the Workshop is also available on the “Morss Colloquium Video Presentations” webpage of the same website.
Updated information about the Ridge 2000 Integration and Synthesis Workshop
Friday, May 29, 2009

The dates of the Ridge 2000 Workshop have been changed to October 1- 3, in order to help individuals who would like to also attend the MARGINS Theoretical and Experimental Institute (TEI): Volatiles in the Subduction Factory (Mt. Hood, Oregon; September 28- October 1, 2009).

This workshop will focus on comparisons of results from interdisciplinary studies and models generated from the three Integrated Study Sites (ISS), Time Critical Studies, and research at other oceanic spreading centers. The goal of the meeting will be to integrate datasets and to synthesize conceptual and empirical models of oceanic spreading center processes. An important objective is to provide an opportunity for the Ridge 2000 community to discuss and develop cross-ISS and interdisciplinary papers that broaden the scope of individual Ridge 2000 studies. All participants will be required to submit an abstract, and there will be an emphasis on the poster session as a venue for presenting results of field programs, laboratory analyses, and models. Additional information about the Ridge 2000 Integration and Synthesis Workshop is available on the R2K website
Eruption confirmed at West Mata volcano (NE Lau Basin)
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
An eruption at the West Mata volcano (NE Lau Basin) was confirmed within the first 24 hours of the NSF Ridge 2000 & MARGINS and NOAA-OE-sponsored Eruption Response cruise (5-13 May). Pictures of the eruption have been posted on the cruise website. More information about the results of the cruise will made available on the Ridge 2000 and MARGINS websites.
Update from the Petrological Database- PetDB exceeds 1 million analytical values
Friday, May 1, 2009
PetDB, the Petrological Database of the Ocean Floor and the primary data repository for R2K relevant rock geochemical data, has been updated to include 40 new data sets (see the list on the PetDB website), bringing its content to 1,041,068 data points for 40,656 samples from 1,058 references. PetDB appreciates your feedback. Please send comments about missing data sets, erroneous data, and improvements to content and functionality of the data system to info@petdb.org. PetDB encourages you to contribute your geochemical data. For instructions, please go to Data>Contribute on PetDB’s web site menu or contact Kerstin Lehnert.
Update from the Ridge 2000 Data Portal- NEW field and derived data submitted to R2K DMO
Friday, May 1, 2009
Numerous field and derived data sets were submitted to the Ridge 2000 Data Management Office (DMO) prior to the April R2K proposal deadline. These data include near-bottom photos and photomosaics, temperature records, biological species lists, CTD data, cruise reports and shore-based data analysis plans. Several geochemistry and fluid chemistry data sets were also received, and will be forwarded to PetDB/VentDB for full cataloguing and archival. For a complete listing of newly submitted data sets received by the R2K DMO please visit the R2K Data Portal. Active links will be provided on this page when data are made available. Thanks to all scientists who have contributed data and cruise information over the past few months. We continue to actively solicit new contributions of data from other Mid-Ocean Ridge areas as well as the R2K ISSs. If you have data sets from former or active projects that would be useful for future research, please direct data submissions to Vicki Ferrini.
Neovolcanic activity in the NE Lau Basin - Eruption Response Cruise (5-13 May)
Friday, May 1, 2009
Shipboard updates and preliminary findings from the Ridge 2000/MARGINS/NOAA-OE-sponsored NE Lau Basin Eruption Response Cruise (5-13 May), led by Chief Scientist, Joe Resing, will be posted on the cruise website. More information about the preliminary results from the discovery cruise in November 2008 and the announcement to the R2K and MARGINS scientific community (February 5, 2009) can be found on the R2K website.
Updated list of titles and compilation of project summaries for submitted R2K proposals
Friday, May 1, 2009
To date, the R2K office is aware of 25 proposals that were submitted for the April 7, 2009 NSF R2K proposal deadline. The list of titles and a compilation of the project summaries have been updated and are available on the R2K website. If your proposal is not listed, but you would like to have it included with in this compilation- please contact the Ridge 2000 Program Office.
R2K proposals submitted for April 7, 2009 deadline
Friday, April 17, 2009
As of April 15, the R2K office knew of 20 proposals that were submitted to the recent NSF R2K proposal deadline. The topics that are proposed for study represent an excellent cross-section of disciplines and themes that span all the ISSs. The office greatly appreciates having received this information, which we feel will be useful to a broad spectrum of the R2K community, and will help us gauge the topics upon which you are focusing your integrated studies. We have listed the lead PI names, affiliations and proposal titles on the R2K website, and compiled the project summaries into a PDF file that can be downloaded. There may be additional proposals submitted to NSF, for which the R2K office has not received titles or project summaries. If you would like us to include your proposal title and project summary in the posted listings please contact the Ridge 2000 Program Office. Thank you.
Lau ISS cruise featured on GLOBE educational website (16 May – 8 June)
Friday, April 17, 2009
The first leg of the Lau ISS cruise (PIs Fisher, Luther and Girguis) will be featured on the GLOBE website, as part of the NSF-funded FLEXE (From Local to Extreme Environments) project. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) is a web-based international science education program that joins scientists, students, and teachers in 110 countries in studying Earth Systems Science. In 2006, Ridge 2000 Education & Outreach partnered with GLOBE through FLEXE to feature ridge research and, as the name implies, engage middle and high school students in analyses and comparisons of data collected in their local environment with data from extreme environments. Approximately 1500 students in four countries are currently involved in a pilot of on-line components and instructional materials, and will be tuning in to follow the R2K Lau cruise via the website. The site features log entries, blogs, podcasts, and a live web-streamed phone call from students at GLOBE HQ to scientists and crew mid-cruise. The site is also open to the entire GLOBE community. We will also be conducting ship tours with local students from Samoa College prior to the cruise. For questions, contact Liz Goehring, R2K Education & Outreach Coordinator.
Updated Ridge 2000 website
Friday, April 17, 2009
The look and feel of the Ridge 2000 website has been updated, but the URL has not changed: www.ridge2000.org. All of the content of the old R2K website has been retained and updated where it was needed. The reorganization of the material was based on considerable input to make the navigation to various sections easier and to provide what we hope is a simpler site structure that will remain active long after the program has ended. This information will be the permanent archive for the R2K Program post-2012. The R2K Office welcomes comments on the new site to improve it, and if you do find errors or incorrect links, please let us know and we will fix them as soon as possible.