ROVs/Submersibles/Diving Archives

A giant phantom jelly is documented in the Bellingshausen Sea off Antarctica, at an area where the shelf break and slope are cut by several underwater gullies. This jellyfish can grow to a massive size: the bell to be more than one meter (3.3 feet) across with four ribbon-like oral arms that can grow more than 10 meters (33 feet) in length. -- Schmidt Ocean Institute

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ice Planet Expedition: Thriving Antarctic Ecosystems Found in Wake of Recently Detached Iceberg

by Keith CowingApril 3, 2025April 3, 2025

An international team on board Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too) working in the Bellingshausen Sea rapidly pivoted their research plans to study an area that was, until last month, […]

A new, integrated system will enable ocean science, exploration, and restoration efforts from a wider range of vessels, paving the way for more successful and efficient operations

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s New Remotely Operated Vehicles

by Keith CowingMarch 28, 2025March 28, 2025

Woods Hole, Mass. (September 27, 2024) – The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has received complementary awards from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric […]

This cover image, captured by Xiang Xiao from inside the human-occupied vehicle (HOV) Fendouzhe during sampling at the trench bottom, reveals the mysterious life world of the hadal zone. -- Cell

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Missions & Hardware, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Life Thrives In The Deepest Ocean: New Discoveries From The Mariana Trench

by Keith CowingMarch 11, 2025

The latest scientific research at the deepest part of the ocean has revealed something extraordinary – biodiversity is extensive and flourishing despite the extreme conditions.

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Symbiotic Bacteria Ride Along With Marine Cells In Earth’s Oceanic Upper Layer

by Keith CowingFebruary 13, 2025February 13, 2025

Just as the human body serves as a habitat for bacteria and other microbes, diverse, tiny organisms known as protistshost their own microbiomes.

MAGs and metabolic potential in and on carbonates with low, intermediate and high AOM activity. We sequenced the surface and the interior of R1, R9 and Chimlet with low, intermediate and high AOM activity, respectively, and binned MAGs from these six metagenomes to investigate taxonomy and metabolic potential. MAGs shown were selected based on relative abundance, shown in parenthesis, with a focus on Proteobacteria on the rock surface because of their higher abundance compared to the interior (Fig. 2c). Find a full list of MAGs in supplementary table 3. Anaerobic methane oxidizing archaea dominated the rock interiors, Ca. Methanophaga, in particular, and Ca. Desulfaltia was the most abundant interior SRB suggesting it may be an ANME partner bacterium. In contrast, the surface communities and their metabolic potentials differed between rocks along with the AOM activity of the carbonate, methane supply strength, and oxygen concentrations. We indicated the difference in methane supply to the rocks estimated based on the in situ observations with arrow size. Further, oxygen concentrations were higher at the Del Mar (22 µM) vs. SMM800 (8 µM) seep. -- biorxiv.org

Analog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Distinct Microbial Communities Within and On Seep Carbonates Support Long-term Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane and Novel pMMO Diversity

by Keith CowingFebruary 10, 2025February 10, 2025

At methane seeps worldwide, syntrophic anaerobic methane-oxidizing archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria (ANME-SRB) promote carbonate precipitation and rock formation, acting as methane and carbon sink.

A mud volcano at the seafloor where methane-rich fluids from the subsurface are emitted to the water column. These ecosystems are at the interface between the subsurface and surface realms and are often oases of life in the deep ocean. Credit Mandy Joye/UGA

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Insights From The First Global Appraisal Of Microbiomes In Earth’s Subsurface Environments

by Keith CowingFebruary 5, 2025February 4, 2025

Which microbes thrive below us in darkness – in gold mines, in aquifers, in deep boreholes in the seafloor – and how do they compare to the microbiomes that envelop […]

High-resolution seismic image of the subsurface beneath seafloor craters (A) Seismic line crossing the field of craters in a SW-NE direction as shown Fig. 2E. Circle insets show details of the reflective polarity of the main bottom simulating reflectors (BSRs) identified at regional scale in the study area. BSR-1 is characterized by a reverse polarity with respect to the seafloor polarity whereas BSR-2 has the same polarity as the seafloor. Both are breached and collapsed by fluid escape pipes beneath the crater fields A and B. (B) Detail of subsurface beneath the craters showing a fluid escape pipe breaching the two BSRs. HAR: High Amplitude Reflector within the pipes. -- Science Reports via PubMed

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Giant Pit Craters On The Seafloor Above Magma-induced Hydrothermal Vent Complexes

by Keith CowingFebruary 3, 2025February 2, 2025

Massive injection of 13C depleted carbon to the ocean and atmosphere coincided with major environmental upheaval multiple times in the geological record. For several events, the source of carbon has […]

At depth, the team utilized modified push cores, or injector cores, to collect sediment samples covered with a white bacterial mat. (Photo Credit: Ocean Exploration Trust, NOAA Ocean Exploration, and NASA)

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Insight Into How Some Species Thrive In Dark, Oxygen-free Environments

by Keith CowingFebruary 3, 2025February 2, 2025

Most life on Earth relies on the sun’s energy for survival, but what about organisms in the deep sea that live beyond the reach of its rays? A new study […]

Analog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Space Physiology & Medicine, Space Stations, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Submarines For Space Exploration

by Keith CowingFebruary 2, 2025February 2, 2025

Submarines are emerging as a unique research platform to study human adaption to extreme environments – from ocean depths to outer space.

The underwater volcano Borealis Mud Volcano was discovered in the summer of 2023. Last year, the researchers were back at the volcano. Credit Jørn Berger-Nyvoll / UiT

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Underwater Mud Volcanos Are A Haven For Marine Organisms

by Keith CowingJanuary 28, 2025January 28, 2025

The underwater volcano Borealis Mud Volcano is located in the Barents Sea and was first discovered by researchers at UiT The Arctic University of Norway in 2023. The discovery received […]

ROVs/Submersibles/Diving

Ice Planet Expedition: Thriving Antarctic Ecosystems Found in Wake of Recently Detached Iceberg

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s New Remotely Operated Vehicles

Life Thrives In The Deepest Ocean: New Discoveries From The Mariana Trench

Symbiotic Bacteria Ride Along With Marine Cells In Earth’s Oceanic Upper Layer

Distinct Microbial Communities Within and On Seep Carbonates Support Long-term Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane and Novel pMMO Diversity

Insights From The First Global Appraisal Of Microbiomes In Earth’s Subsurface Environments

Giant Pit Craters On The Seafloor Above Magma-induced Hydrothermal Vent Complexes

Insight Into How Some Species Thrive In Dark, Oxygen-free Environments

Submarines For Space Exploration

Underwater Mud Volcanos Are A Haven For Marine Organisms

Inspecting A Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DRAMS) Transducer

NASA Explores Potential Commercial Servicing for Hubble Telescope

The Fate of Ice Sheets on Near-Synchronously Rotating Land Planets

Extraterrestrial Chemical Boundary Conditions and Evolutionary Opportunity Space on Early Earth

Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys (COMPASS) III. CH3OH isotopic fractionation in the low-mass protostar BHR71-IRS1