Dive 3 & 4 Highlights

Wednesday August 26, 2015
By Bill Chadwick

3rd and 4th Jason dives 
 

Axial Seamount 2015 Expedition video highlights from ROV Jason dives J2-823 and J2-824, including pressure measurements on seafloor benchmarks, release of the SCPR mooring, and sampling of vent fluids and microbes from the ASHES vent field, and at Trevi, Marker 113, Vixen, and Casper vents. Video by Jesse Crowell in association with Saskia Madlener at 77th Parallel Productions. Music by James Andrew Menking

Map of vent sites and pressure benchmarks visited on dives 3 and 4 (J2-823 and J2-824).

The 3rd and 4th Jason dives (J2-823 and J2-824) were mainly to conduct the pressure measurements described in the Pressure Dive blog post.  However, during the last transect of the dive we released the SCPR (self-calibrating pressure sensor) mooring and also visited some of the hydrothermal vent sites that we had not yet had a chance to visit.  This allowed us to sample the vent fluids and microbes at these vents to continue our long-term time series and to look for changes in chemistry or microbial communities that might be due to the 2015 eruption.   We also recovered and deployed long-term temperature recorders in some of these vents.

This movie of dive highlights includes views of these vent sites: Virgin and Anemone in the ASHES vent field, Trevi and Spanish Steps in the eastern caldera, and Marker 113, Vixen and Casper vents in the southern caldera.