Due to the invitation of Prof. Peter G. Brewer from MBARI（Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute）, Xin Zhang from IOCAS has participated in the first leg of the MBARI’s 2013 Southern California Expedition. In this leg, a series of remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives on sites of the Santa Monica Basin has been deployed for the studying of the methane mounds and active venting of methane rich fluids geochemistry and geobiology.

This cruise is an important part of Xin’s NSF of China project research work. During this cruise, a Raman probe has been used to study the pore water geochemistry at the upper 0.5 meters of sediment. This novel device allows detailed measurement of pore water profiles of dissolved CH4, SO42-, H2S, and pH in situ without incurring artifacts due to the degassing that typically occurs with core recovery. Based on the high-resolution seafloor maps produced by MBARI’s mapping autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), a series of pore water profiles has been made at various geologic features and active natural gas vents in the Santa Monica Basin.

The science party of this cruise is made up by the scientists from MBARI, Caltech (California Institute of Technology) and IOCAS. The goal of this leg is to use the in situ pore-water profiles collected by Raman probe and the compatible isotopic and microbial datasets to advance understand the microorganisms and metabolic processes underlying carbon and sulfur cycling at sub-millimeter resolution within deep-sea methane seeps.

The science team and ROV pilots pose in front of ROV Doc Ricketts in the moon pool. (pic from Susan von Thun at MBARI)

For more information, please visit: http://www.mbari.org/expeditions/Southern13/Leg1/Logbook/day8.htm