Marlow shared, “There were two overarching goals for the expedition: to explore the methane seeps in the region and to assess the biodiversity among the seeps and submarine canyons. This area hadn’t been thoroughly explored before, so the expedition allowed scientists to conduct initial investigations and to compare the habitats to those we have already explored globally.”
Hypothesis-driven questions—generated by researchers from Chile, the United States, Portugal, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy—included efforts to unveil the abundance of methane seeps found along the coast, their variation in depth and latitude, and their biodiversity, to name a few.
Deep-Sea Discoveries
During the expedition, the team of international scientists unearthed four unnamed underwater canyons, explored nearly 20 methane seeps, and uncovered a myriad of deep-sea organisms, some of which are predicted to be new species.
Video was recorded and streamed across the globe in real time from Schmidt Ocean Institute’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV), SuBastian. Samples were also taken with push cores and the ROV’s manipulator arms for later chemical analysis and sediment diversity assessments. An array of animals, including an estimated 60 new species and commercially valuable fish, were found. Scientists discovered that the largest of the canyons was approximately 2,000 km², and the deepest was over 3,000 m deep. Armed with mapping and biodiversity data gathered from the submarine canyons, researchers will now explore how factors such as latitude and depth impact biological, chemical, and geological characteristics.
Ocean exploration, like that carried out by Schmidt Ocean Institute, fosters a holistic approach to the Blue Economy by creating demand for new ocean-based technology capable of answering key questions fundamental to conservationists and resource managers.
Technologies Abate Challenges
Tools, both proprietary and researcher-invented, were leveraged on the expedition. As of June 2024, Seabed 2030 reported that only 26.1% of the ocean seafloor has been mapped. To contribute to the data set, the team used sonar-based bubble mapping and bathymetric mapping to characterize the seafloor, submarine canyons, and methane seeps in high resolution.
“Ocean technology is evolving rapidly,” Marlow shared, “and one important trend is the push to make more measurements In situ —in the ocean itself and not only back in the lab, where things might have changed quite a bit. We saw the benefits of that first-hand on our expedition.”
The Sensor for Aqueous Gases in the Environment (SAGE), invented by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) technologists Anna Michel and Jason Kapit, was leveraged during the expedition to improve the search for seeps and measure methane gas concentrations in situ.
“In the past, hunting for methane seeps at depth could be time-consuming and was often based on images from previous camera tows, predictions formed from initial low-resolution sonar mapping efforts, or from water chemistry obtained from discrete sampling. By leveraging new in situ sensors, like SAGE, we are able to ‘sniff’ for methane signals coming from seeps.
“In situ sensors like this one enable us to measure directly in the environment, allowing us to then adapt our sampling strategy and the scientific process. This means we were able to redirect ROV SuBastian at depth in real time, saving us time when searching for the methane seeps and opening opportunities for answering additional questions.”
Global Implications
While the threads may not be apparent at first, Marlow expounded on how discoveries from the expedition had broader implications for fisheries, carbon storage, and global energy.
“Methane-oxidizing microbes found at seeps can, theoretically, have applications in biofuel production. As we improve our ability to keep these microbes alive in the lab and studies investigate the enzymes they produce, we can learn more about their applications.”
“Methane seeps are also a location for carbon cycling. Microbes are transforming methane into carbonate rock. A growing understanding of these chemical processes could have valuable applications for long-term carbon sequestration.”
Furthermore, Marlow pointed out that commercially relevant fish species were found in abundance near and around methane seeps, showing scientists that the unique seafloor environment contributes to a viable economic fishery and protein availability of Chilean people along the coast. Scientific expeditions like this create robust data sets vital for decision-making, government policy frameworks, and conservation.
To find out more about Schmidt Ocean Institute, visit: https://schmidtocean.org/
eco magazine’s topside talks is an exclusive in-field look into the latest applications of applied marine science methods and technologies. To read more interviews, visit: https://ecomagazine.com/reporting/topside-talks/
