Lost City

Ocean expedition to 'Lost City' links land and sea

“Normally, on a deep-ocean expedition, I talk with the mission’s chief scientist across a table on the research vessel. In this case, we talk across the planet,” Dr. Robert Ballard

On July 23 through August 1, 2005 a benchmarking expedition was launched to explore Lost City hydrothermal vents located in the center of the Atlantic Ocean. Through equally compelling technology, "telepresence" was introduced on this ocean expedition to connect Dr. Robert Ballard at sea with Chief Scientist Dr. Debbie Kelley ashore as they explored hydrothermal vents that are unlike any other. The mission was financially supported and coordinated by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

"Only now has our nation, led by NOAA, created a major program to explore the vast uncharted regions of our planet that lie beneath the sea," said Ballard. "Stay tuned for new discoveries!" Dr. Ballard, University of Rhode Island oceanography professor and the expedition's principal investigator, has since utilized telepresence to explore the Black Sea, Flower Garden Banks, Santorini and Kolumbo, the site of the Titanic, and much more. This mission confirms that the use of innovative telepresence technology sets precedent and raises the bar on use of communications technology.

From a NOAA ship, Ronald H. Brown, in the mid-Atlantic ocean, Ballard communicated with Kelley, who was located in a specially designed command center at the University of Washington. She and other scientists connected to Ballard, and to images from the seafloor, via "telepresence," using high-speed Internet and satellites. "With teams ashore at the University of Rhode Island and University of Washington, more intellectual capital was conveniently accessible to the mission," said Ballard. In the past, missions have been limited by ship-to-shore communications capacity, the finite number of berthing spaces on research vessels and by competing obligations which sometimes precluded top scientists from going to sea.

"Lost City is truly one of the most remarkable places on our planet. Its serendipitous discovery shows that there is still much left to be learned about our oceans and the life they sustain," said Kelley, who with colleagues discovered the field of hydrothermal chimneys in 2000, the first of its kind to be discovered. Unlike "black smoker" chimney vents first discovered on the Galapagos Ridge by Ballard in 1977, the fluid venting at Lost City is not driven by heat from cooling volcanoes, but from heat when seawater reacts with rocks below the field

"NOAA's mission includes advancing the understanding of our planet," said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. "These missions to explore little-known deep-ocean areas such as Lost City, are key to exploring that knowledge base."

Fluids in black chimney smokers are hot (reaching more than 700°F), but at Lost City vents are cooler (less than 200°F) and are so alkaline they are similar in pH to products used to unclog household drains. Because of its unique chemistry, the field hosts novel life forms that live in the absence of sunlight, and thrive on methane and hydrogen gases given off during alteration of the rocks.

Active for at least 30,000 years , the field is on top of a large submerged mountain called the Atlantis Massif on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a portion of an underwater chain of mountains that zippers around the Earth for 40,000 nautical miles. There are more than 30 active and inactive chimneys in the field that is at least 1,300 feet long and 1,000 feet wide at a depth of 800 meters, or about 2,600 feet.

Anyone with access to the standard Internet can view live images from the ship while it is at sea and as available, from underwater robots as they explore Lost City's chimneys. Click on "Live Video" at oceanexplorer.noaa.gov or at immersionpresents.org. Telepresence also connects ocean expeditions in 40 real time exciting Immersion Presents broadcasts to teachers, students, Boys and Girls Clubs, and audiences at aquariums and museums in the U.S. and Mexico.

Technology allows scientists to reach the ocean floor when the Institute for Exploration's remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) ARGUS, and HERCULES explore, image, take readings and samples of fluids and animal life at Lost City chimneys. HERCULES has advanced optical and acoustic imaging systems and sophisticated manipulators, to document and conduct fine-scale motor operations in deep water and low visibility.

Major partners in the Lost City expedition included NOAA, Universities of Rhode Island and Washington, Institute for Exploration, JASON Foundation for Education, Immersion Presents at Mystic Aquarium, and The National Geographic Society.

NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with our federal partners and nearly 60 countries to develop a global Earth observation network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

To read a summary of the Lost City expedition visit: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov