FIX08: An interdisciplinary and international collaboration to study autotrophic carbon fixation and fluid chemistry at 9ºN and 13ºN EPR

An international group of scientists representing five different countries, i.e., USA, Germany, France, Italy, and China, was recently on board R/V Atlantis on cruise AT15-28, named FIX08. They were conducting work on in-situ chemistry of high- and low temperature hydrothermal vent fluids and the characterization of microbial communities carrying out autotrophic carbon fixation.

The latest Dive and Discover expedition recently took place along the Southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Cruise dates: Dec. 31 - Jan. 17, 2008). Kristen Kusek, InterRidge's Education & Outreach Coordinator, was the science writer for the cruise. The team tested state-of-the-art communications technology on a hunt for hydrothermal vents using two new AUVs, Puma and Jaguar. Hop aboard and watch the action!

The InterRidge Office has received news from a U.S. research cruise at the East Pacific Rise 9ºN Integrated Studies Site. The LADDER III cruise, led by Chief Scientist Lauren Mullineaux from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is underway (13 Nov - 3 Dec 2007) on R/V Atlantis with the research submersible Alvin. LADDER is an acronym for LArval Deep Dispersal on the East Pacific Rise.

Four new hydrothermal sites on the Southwest Indian Ridge and the Central Indian Ridge located by Chinese DY115-19-Leg 3 cruise

After discovering the first black smoker at the ultraslow spreading Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR), Chinese R/V Dayang Yihao continued its expedition with the third leg across the Indian Ocean. The leg started in Durban, South Africa on 15 March 2007 and finished in Fremantle, Australia on 24 April 2007. This 39-day leg was funded and sponsored by China Ocean Mineral Resources R & D Association (COMRA) and led by Dr. Xiqiu Han, Second Institute of Oceanography, SOA. The objective of this leg was mainly to look for new active hydrothermal sites along the ultraslow spreading segment of the SWIR and the moderately-fast spreading segment of the Central Indian Ridge (CIR).