It’s an image those who have seen it will never forget: the moment a submarine’s windows reveal their first glimpse of the ocean floor.
Earth Sciences graduate student Sarah Moriarty got to experience the rare sight for herself this spring on a research cruise north of the Galapagos Islands.
Ms. Moriarty was invited aboard the R/V Atlantis, which also holds the human-occupied vehicle (HOV) Alvin.
The purpose of the five-week trip was to collect samples from active and dead hydrothermal vents located along a volcanic ridge at a depth of 2.5 kilometres to better understand how the microbial communities they contain change once a vent dies.
Continue reading at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Image via Memorial University of Newfoundland.