![]() Hundreds of species of animals have been identified in the hydrothermal. This ecosystem contains 98 percent of all the living space on Earth. In brief, the 20 km 2 site has silty-clay sediments with low topographic relief (<100 m. It also includes sharks and invertebrates such as squid, shrimp, sea spiders, sea stars, and other crustaceans. A detailed description of the chemistry, oceanography and biology of the site is found in Smith and Druffel (1998). What animals live in the abyssal zone The life that is found in the Abyssal Zone includes chemosynthetic bacteria, tubeworms, and small fish that are dark in color or transparent. It includes the abyssal zone between 4,000 and 6,000 meters (13,00020,000 feet). Station M (34★0N, 123☀W) is a long-term abyssal study site in the northeast Pacific that has been monitored continually since 1989. And they will research how animals in the hadal zone are able to withstand extreme hydrostatic pressure. The Deep Sea (abyssal water column) ecosystem covers the vast zone of open ocean that is below 200 meters (656 feet). ![]() Bacteria and other microbes make up the base of the food web at these depths, so researchers will also work to better understand the relationships between microbes, marine snow (sources of carbon), and larger organisms. The HADEX program is setting out to compare life found in the hadal zone by studying its abundance and diversity in 1,000-meter intervals from 4,000 meters to the deepest points of trenches. One of their primary benefits is their ability to reconfigure their mission on the fly if they encounter unexpected issues. Orpheus AUVs can work independently or in a “swarm” to explore, map, and analyze the water, seafloor, and organisms in the hadal zone. The composition of the benthos in these trenches differs from that of nearby abyssal areas. The hadal zone, sometimes called the ultra-abyssal zone, is largely restricted to the deep oceanic trenches. These small AUVs can withstand pressure greater than 1,000 times that at the ocean’s surface (as occurs at the deepest points), and they can navigate narrow, rocky sections of trenches. The abyssal region is by far the most extensive, reaching down to 6000 m depth and accounting for over half the surface area of the planet. Together, WHOI and NASA have developed Orpheus autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). This project is not without challenges, given the remote location and extreme topography and pressures found in ocean trenches. To do so, WHOI’s HADEX program is collaborating with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to develop technology that allows exploration of the hadal zone. Researchers are actively working to investigate trenches and the waters within them. What are ocean scientists doing to better understand the hadal zone? Other Expeditions Highlighting WHOI Research. ![]()
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