Photostories, in words and pictures
More than 30 illustrated articles about deep-sea science at sea and on land.
Expedition life
Office workers on land may have a fire drill once or twice a year. But office buildings don't usually run the risk of sinking or being boarded by pirates. Expedition researchers and crew practice for such emergencies.
» More: pirates, fires and sinking ships
Deep-sea creatures: scaleworms
About the size of your thumb, or smaller, many scaleworms are fierce predators, capturing prey with jawlike mouthparts. Deep-sea scaleworms are a source of fascination to two particular biologists …
Diving into the deep sea
Researchers need some hardy equipment to visit seafloor vents in person. The manned submersible Alvin has to cope with toxic, corrosive fluids, extreme temperatures and immense pressures
» Another deep-sea sub: Jason acts as scientists' eyes and hands
More science snapshots
- Some of the first ever photos of acid-loving, heat-loving, deep-sea microbes
- Getting the lowdown on microbes: investigating tiny organisms that live in water and rocks kilometers below the sea's surface
- Untangling tubeworms: two very distinct types of worm… or are they?
- A tale of two snails: have researchers discovered a new species of deep-sea snail in the South Pacific?
- Mussel mysteries: investigating mussels, snails and other animals living near hot vents
- Simulating life down under: special on-board aquaria help researchers learn how vent animals cope with a harsh environment
- Dispersal down deep: if deep-sea creatures like tubeworms and mussels are attached to the seafloor, how do they colonize new sites kilometers away?
- Spotter subs: pioneering biologist Tim Shank uses submersibles to home in on ocean-floor creatures
- Photomosaics: stitching together photos to form detailed images of seafloor structures and animals.
- Sampling the seafloor: the submersible Jason II acts as scientists' eyes and hands
- Chemical cocktails: investigating the make-up of vent fluid
- Eruption forensics: how do scientists detect eruptions at deep-sea volcanoes?
- From fluids to solids: discovering how mineral deposits form when hot vent fluid mixes with cold seawater
- Seismology: listening to earthquakes yields vital data about the formation of new seafloor
- Decoding rocks: lava from the seafloor holds clues to major Earth processes
- Discovery of a new vent site in the South Pacific's Lau Basin
- The lure of Lau: why researchers are fascinated by areas of the seafloor between Tonga and Fiji
