It is hard to believe that parts of Earth remain unexplored. But, even today, there are still places on our planet that have escaped the gaze of human eyes. Scientists from around the world decided to team up and dive deeper into the dark depths of the Hadal Zone, which has parts of the ocean that are more than 6,000 meters deep. The team, which includes researchers from the U.S. and Scotland, started the proposed three-year expedition on Saturday, April 12, 2014.
The expedition is part of an international effort to observe and compare life in different deep ocean trenches and neighboring seafloor plains. This project is described as the first to systematically study organisms in deep sea trenches. The international team’s goal is to collect images and samples of the unusual marine life that survives in the extreme temperatures and immense pressures of oceanic trenches.
Their first stop? The Kermadec Trench.
The Kermadec Trench, one of the Earth’s deepest trenches, is the perfect place to begin. It was formed by subduction, where the Pacific tectonic plate pushed itself under the Indo-Australian plate, right between New Zealand’s North Island and Tonga. This oceanic trench the second deepest in the world — the seafloor is estimated to be about 10,047 meters below the surface. Currents flowing from Antarctica also make Kermadec’s waters among the coldest of the deep ocean trenches. The trench is also lined by an arc of undersea volcanoes, creating a diverse underwater environment that harbors some of the world’s strangest organisms. Since this area is considered one of the last relatively untouched areas of the planet, scientists are hopeful about their prospects of discovering new species there. The team plans on exploring the trench for about 40 days, from April 12 to May 20.
Because humans are not physically capable of withstanding the enormous pressures of the deep sea, the scientists and engineers have to use remotely operated vehicles, baited cameras and landers to explore the dark depths of the Kermadec. The HROV Nereus, created by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is just one of the high-tech machines the researchers have at their disposal. It is an unmanned vehicle that is made out of ceramic materials to provide bounce as well as protection for the vehicle from collapsing under the intense pressure underwater. Nereus can operate in two modes: autonomously and remotely. As an autonomous underwater vehicle, it swims around freely on its own accord and surveys large areas and maps out the seafloor to give the scientists a broad overview of the geography of the environment. When it locates something that seems interesting, the vehicle sends a signal up to the researchers and the support team can bring the vehicle back on board the ship. There, they can attach a hair-thin optical fiber to Nereus and transform it into a remotely operated vehicle. Through this tether, Nereus can receive commands from pilots on deck, collect samples or conduct experiments with a manipulator arm, and transmit high-quality, real-time video images back up to the ship.
The public can follow the researchers’ expedition online at web.whoi.edu/hades, where the scientists have been documenting their exploration of the Kermadec Trench with blog posts, images and live video feeds.
