Glimpsing through the eyes of deep-sea cameras/Ein Blick durch die Linse von Tiefsee-Kameras

Fig 1: The Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Kiel 6000 und OFOS. (Ocean Floor Observation System) / Das ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) Kiel 6000 und das OFOS (Ocean Floor Observation System). Photos: OFOS: Yasemin Bodur (MPI), ROV: Sofia Ramalho (IMAR)

– The Ocean Floor Observation System (OFOS) and Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) – (deutscher Text siehe unten) Many samples that marine biologists gather during research cruises are taken “physically”, such as deep-sea mud that is heaved up from the seafloor onto the deck via different coring gears, and gets further processed in the labs. With […]

Schätze der Tiefsee / Treasures of the Deep

Manganknollen aus dem deutschen Lizenzgebiet in der CCZ. (Abb 1)

(English below) Manganknollen – Entstehung und wirtschaftliche Relevanz von Jessica Volz, Sophie Paul und Julia M. Otte Während der ersten globalen Forschungsexpedition der HMS Challenger in den 1870er Jahren wurde das große Ressourcenpotential der Tiefsee deutlich. An Bord der HMS Challenger wurden zahlreiche unbekannte marine Organismen sowie mineralische Konkretionen vom pazifischen und atlantischen Meeresboden, die […]

SO268: What’s up on the seabed?

Manganese nodules with a sponge in the Clarion Clipperton Zone. Photo: ROV KIEL 6000/GEOMAR

At the bottom of the Ocean, in ~4000m water depth they can be found in high abundances: Manganese nodules. Industry and states are interested in these potato-sized objects as a new metal resource. But before commercial mining will start, the potential ecological impacts need to be investigated. Therefore, the project MiningImpact (funded through JPI Oceans) […]

Traces of life

Antje Boetius, Autun Purser, Yann Marcon   During this 4-week expedition we have been very busy with studying traces of human activity at depth on scales of centimeters to kilometers. There was so much to be learned from this study site at 4150 m water depth. But it is important to remember that the ploughing […]

“Why are you doing this research?” – Questions of the International School in Bremen

Questions from a school class A number of the scientists and crew taking part in SO242-2 are based in Bremen, Germany. We have received a number of interesting questions from year 6 students attending the International School Bremen, sent to us by their teacher, Martyn Robinson-Slater. We in this blog will try and answer some […]

What lives, breathes – New technology to measure respiration in the deep sea

The crawler's firsts steps at the seafloor.

Today we present the benthic crawler “Tramper” and it first steps at the seafloor in 4150m water depth. Tramper was designed and constructed within the HGF Allianz ROBEX (http://www.robex-allianz.de/) to measure oxygen concentration in the sediment autonomously over a longer period (up to one year). During this expedition we performed the first in situ test […]

Only dust in the wind? How we trace particles suspended by human activities at the deep-sea floor

In addition to a direct disturbance by an industrial collection of nodules at the seafloor, potential impacts of nodule mining are connected to the associated generation of sediment plumes and their dispersal. This may vastly extend the area that is affected by mining activities. Deep-sea sediments are typically very fine and easily eroded – it […]