ALBERT

Description: The Aurora hydrothermal field sits in the westernmost segment of the Gakkel Ridge within the Western Volcanic Zone which extends for 220 km from 7°W to 3°E. The spreading rate here is 14.5-13.5mm/yr and the ridge axis floor at 4200m depth is bounded by steep normal fault rift valley walls and punctuated by a series of axial volcanic ridges and smaller volcanic mounds that rise up hundreds of meters above that axial floor depth. The Aurora field was first located associated with one such volcanic mound as part of the InterRidge two-icebreaker AMORE expedition in 2001. At 82°53'N, 6°15'W a small volcanic mound measuring ~1.5-2km in extent rises approximately 400m from the seafloor at a saddle-point where the rift- valley narrows from ~20km to ~15km wide. During a return cruise to the site aboard the FS Polarstern in 2014, CTD profiling coupled with water column sampling and CH4, TDMn and He-isotope anomalies revealed clear evidence for ongoing hydrothermal activity including strong evidence from CH4:TDMn ratios of ultramafic influence in the underlying vents. Buoyant plume signals intercepted with the CTD during that cruise suggested at least one source of venting was situated toward the south/southwest of the shallowest summit of the Aurora seamount and OFOS deep-tow camera tows from North to South across that summit revealed deep rifts through the thickly sediment seafloor surrounding the base of the volcanic mound. Those firsts were observed striking approximately E-W (across axis) immediately south of the summit of the mound on at least two OFOS tows. These paired observations (CTD, seafloor imaging) led to first imaging of an active vent at ~3900m depth at a Posidonia position of 82°53.83'N, 006°15.32'W. During 2019, as part of the 'HACON' research program, the icebreaker RV Kronprins Hakon visited the seamount, using date from previous expeditions to conduct 10 Ocean Floor Observation and Bathymetry System (OFOBS) drift stations across the summit and flanks of the seamount. The images collected during these stations are presented here. The Ocean Floor Observation and Bathymetry System (OFOBS) (Purser et al., 2018) is a towed underwater camera sled equipped with both a high resolution photo-camera (iSiTEC, CANON EOS 5D Mark III) and a high-definition video-camera (iSiTEC, Sony FCB-H11). The cameras are mounted on a steel frame (140L x 92W x 135H cm), together with two strobe lights (iSiTEC UW-Blitz 250, TTL driven), three laser pointers at a distance of 50 cm from each other that were used to estimate the size of seafloor structures, four LED lights, and a USBL positioning system (Posidonia) to track the position of the OFOS during deployments. For the duration of cruise no. 2019708 however, the ship Kongsberg transponders were used in place of the Posidonia system for USBL positioning. Positioning information is further augmented via input from an onboard IXBLUE inertial navigation system (INS) with DVL input. The sidescan bathymetry sonar is an interferometric Edgetech 2205 AUV/ROV MPES (Multi Phase Echosounder) with two sidescan frequencies (230 kHz & 540 kHz) for different range and resolution achievements. The transducers additionally hold a bathymetric receive array to calculate bathymetric 2.5D data in the range of the 540 kHz sidescan sonar with around 800 data points per ping. A forward acoustic camera gives ~20m warning of approaching obstacles in front of the OFOBS sled. During deployments, the OFOBS is lowered to ~1.5 m above the seafloor then towed by the ship / ice drift at speeds of up to 0.8 kn. Ideal deployment speed is 0.4 kn, and for the majority of deployments made during this cruise, drift was slower. Every 20 seconds a 26 megapixel still image of the seafloor is taken by the device, and there is the option to additionally take 'hotkey' images of features of interest. The collected images are presented here, with positions based on a splined interpretation of the in-situ Kongsberg transponder position.

Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Howell, K. L., Hilario, A., Allcock, A. L., Bailey, D. M., Baker, M., Clark, M. R., Colaco, A., Copley, J., Cordes, E. E., Danovaro, R., Dissanayake, A., Escobar, E., Esquete, P., Gallagher, A. J., Gates, A. R., Gaudron, S. M., German, C. R., Gjerde, K. M., Higgs, N. D., Le Bris, N., Levin, L. A., Manea, E., McClain, C., Menot, L., Mestre, N. C., Metaxas, A., Milligan, R. J., Muthumbi, A. W. N., Narayanaswamy, B. E., Ramalho, S. P., Ramirez-Llodra, E., Robson, L. M., Rogers, A. D., Sellanes, J., Sigwart, J. D., Sink, K., Snelgrove, P. V. R., Stefanoudis, P., V., Sumida, P. Y., Taylor, M. L., Thurber, A. R., Vieira, R. P., Watanabe, H. K., Woodall, L. C., & Xavier, J. R. A blueprint for an inclusive, global deep-sea ocean decade field program. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, (2020): 584861, doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.584861.

Description: The ocean plays a crucial role in the functioning of the Earth System and in the provision of vital goods and services. The United Nations (UN) declared 2021–2030 as the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The Roadmap for the Ocean Decade aims to achieve six critical societal outcomes (SOs) by 2030, through the pursuit of four objectives (Os). It specifically recognizes the scarcity of biological data for deep-sea biomes, and challenges the global scientific community to conduct research to advance understanding of deep-sea ecosystems to inform sustainable management. In this paper, we map four key scientific questions identified by the academic community to the Ocean Decade SOs: (i) What is the diversity of life in the deep ocean? (ii) How are populations and habitats connected? (iii) What is the role of living organisms in ecosystem function and service provision? and (iv) How do species, communities, and ecosystems respond to disturbance? We then consider the design of a global-scale program to address these questions by reviewing key drivers of ecological pattern and process. We recommend using the following criteria to stratify a global survey design: biogeographic region, depth, horizontal distance, substrate type, high and low climate hazard, fished/unfished, near/far from sources of pollution, licensed/protected from industry activities. We consider both spatial and temporal surveys, and emphasize new biological data collection that prioritizes southern and polar latitudes, deeper (〉 2000 m) depths, and midwater environments. We provide guidance on observational, experimental, and monitoring needs for different benthic and pelagic ecosystems. We then review recent efforts to standardize biological data and specimen collection and archiving, making “sampling design to knowledge application” recommendations in the context of a new global program. We also review and comment on needs, and recommend actions, to develop capacity in deep-sea research; and the role of inclusivity - from accessing indigenous and local knowledge to the sharing of technologies - as part of such a global program. We discuss the concept of a new global deep-sea biological research program ‘Challenger 150,’ highlighting what it could deliver for the Ocean Decade and UN Sustainable Development Goal 14.

Description: Development of this paper was supported by funding from the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) awarded to KH and AH as working group 159 co-chairs. KH, BN, and KS are supported by the UKRI funded One Ocean Hub NE/S008950/1. AH work is supported by the CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020 + 1432 UIDB/50017/2020) that is funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)/MCTES through national funds. AA is supported by Science Foundation Ireland and the Marine Institute under the Investigators Program Grant Number SFI/15/IA/3100 co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund 2014–2020. AC is supported through the FunAzores -ACORES 01-0145-FEDER-000123 grant and by FCT through strategic project UID/05634/2020 and FCT and Direção-Geral de Politica do Mar (DGPM) through the project Mining2/2017/005. PE is funded by national funds (OE), through FCT in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5 and 6 of the article 23, of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of August 29, changed by Law 57/2017, of July 19. SG research is supported by CNRS funds. CG is supported by an Independent Study Award and the Investment in Science Fund at WHOI. KG gratefully acknowledges support from Synchronicity Earth. LL is funded by the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (NA19OAR0110305) and the US National Science Foundation (OCE 1634172). NM is supported by FCT and DGPM, through the project Mining2/2017/001 and the FCT grants CEECIND/00526/2017, UIDB/00350/2020 + UIDP/00350/2020. SR is funded by the FCTgrant CEECIND/00758/2017. JS is supported by ANID FONDECYT #1181153 and ANID Millennium Science Initiative Program #NC120030. JX research is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program through the SponGES project (grant agreement no. 679849) and further supported by national funds through FCT within the scope of UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada supports AM and PVRS. MB and the Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative are supported by Arcadia - A charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. BN work is supported by the NERC funded Arctic PRIZE NE/P006302/1.