WHOI NEREUS: Scientists use ROV to explore Kermadec Trench‎

Researchers will use the deep-submergence vehicle Nereus in their explorations. 

Credit: WHOI

What lives in the deepest part of the ocean, the abyss?

A team of researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) will use the world's only full-ocean-depth, hybrid, remotely-operated vehicle, Nereus, and other advanced technology to find out.

They will explore the Kermadec Trench at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

The trench, located off New Zealand, is the fifth deepest trench in the world. Its maximum depth is 32,963 feet or 6.24 miles (10,047 meters).

It's also one of the coldest trenches due to the inflow of deep waters from Antarctica.

The 40-day expedition to the Kermadec Trench, which begins on April 12, 2014, kicks off a three-year collaborative effort.

The project, known as the Hadal Ecosystem Studies Project (HADES), will conduct the first systematic study of life in ocean trenches, comparing it to the neighbouring abyssal plains, flat areas of the seafloor usually found at depths between 9,843 and 19,685 feet (3,000 and 6,000 meters).

David Garrison

"The proposal to study the deep-sea environment as part of HADES was high-risk, but, we hope, also high-reward," says David Garrison, program director in NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences, which funds HADES.

"Through this exciting project, we will shine a light into the darkness of Earth's deep-ocean trenches, discovering surprising results all along the way."

Among least-explored environments on Earth
A result of extreme pressures in these deep-sea environments and the technical challenges involved in reaching them, ocean trenches remain among the least-explored environments on the planet.

Tim Shank

"We know relatively little about life in ocean trenches, the deepest marine habitats on Earth," says Tim Shank, a biologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, one of the participating organizations.

"We didn't have the technology to do these kinds of detailed studies before. This will be a first-order look at community structure, adaptation and evolution: how life exists in the trenches."

NSF HADES principal investigators are Tim Shank, Jeff Drazen of the University of Hawaii and Paul Yancey of Whitman College.

Telepresence technology aboard the NOAA research vessel Thomas G. Thompson will allow the public to share in the discoveries.

Live-streaming Web events from the seafloor will include narration from the science team.

The researchers' work will also be chronicled in video, still images and blog updates on the expedition website.

WHOI Alvin: Deep-diving sub cleared to return to service

Artist's rendition of the newly upgraded Alvin, showing its improved interior layout. 

Credit: E. Paul Oberlander, WHOI

After a three-year overhaul and major upgrade, the United States' deepest-diving research submersible, Alvin, has been cleared to return to work exploring the ocean's depths.

The sub has been out of service since December 2010, undergoing a major upgrade, including the replacement of its personnel sphere with a newly fabricated, larger, more capable hull.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) operates the U.S. Navy-owned sub for the National Deep Submergence Facility on behalf of a consortium of universities and research organizations conducting deep ocean research.

Steven Schulze

On Jan. 8, 2014, the Naval Sea Systems Command's (NAVSEA) Executive Director of Undersea Warfare for the Department of the Navy Steven Schulze certified that the sub could safely operate to depths of 3,800 meters, with the expectation that a certification dive to 4,500 meters will be completed later this year.

"There has been tremendous coordination between the Navy, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to ensure Alvin's safety and integrity," said the Navy's Director of Advanced Undersea Integration Don Hoffer.

Don Hoffer

"Alvin is a national asset and the Navy is pleased to be a part of the team that returned the vehicle to service."

"Achieving Navy certification is a major milestone in the Alvin upgrade project, enabling the vehicle to get back to its critical mission of taking scientists to the deep sea," said WHOI Vice President for Marine Facilities and Operations Rob Munier.

Rob Munier

"This significant accomplishment is a testament to the rigorous engineering collaboration between WHOI and NAVSEA and the unwavering support of NSF.

Certification helps ensure that Alvin's excellent record of safety will continue for many decades to come."

Alvin carries a pilot and two science observers on missions that last approximately eight hours.

Certification was the final step in Stage I of the Alvin upgrade project, funded by NSF and WHOI.

The upgrade project included; 

• upgrades to major components for an increased depth rating of 6,500 meters,
•  including installation of a new, larger personnel sphere with improved interior ergonomics; 
• five viewports (instead of the previous three) to improve visibility and provide overlapping fields of view; 
• new lighting and high-definition imaging systems; new syntactic foam for buoyancy and an improved command-and-control system.; 

Upgrades also included improvements to Alvin's launch system and storage hangar onboard its support vessel, the R/V Atlantis.

The Navy certified Alvin using its Deep Submergence Scope of Certification process, reviewing the design, construction and materials used to ensure the vehicle performs as expected.

The Navy uses the same process to certify manned undersea systems for submarine rescue and submarine-based Special Operation Forces delivery systems.

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