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Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute sent an aquatic robot on a test run deep below the Pacific Ocean this summer
September 11, 2009 | 7
The Benthic Rover makes its way across the deep seafloor during a trial run in 2007. The "brains" of the vehicle are protected by a spherical titanium pressure housing....[More]
During July 2009, the Benthic Rover traveled across the seafloor while hooked up to the MARS ocean observatory. This allowed researchers to control the vehicle in "real time." The yellow cable on the right side of the image is a long "extension cord" that unspools as the Rover moves....[More]
This 2006 image of the Benthic Rover on the seafloor off central California was taken through a view port on the research submarine Alvin , the deep diving submersible that won popular fame when it located the wreck of the Titanic ....[More]
This computer drawing shows the Benthic Rover illuminating the seafloor with a blue light that causes chlorophyll to fluoresce. Such fluorescence can help scientists tell if blooms of microscopic marine algae have recently settled down onto the seafloor, where they may provide food for deep-sea organisms....[More]
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7 Comments
Add Comment...so the vehicle could withstand 420 kilograms per square meter of water pressure.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPosted above without finishing. I can't figure out what the author meant to type, but surly the rover can dive deeper than 40cm. Why don't you use standard units like Pa or PSI?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBefore the benthic rover can find signs of global warming, wouldn't the scientists running this study need a baseline data set? If you can't say what "normal" is, how can you determine what changes have occurred?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOne other point: What, exactly is the "normal" climate of the Earth? Paleoclimatology has demonstrated that the only thing about the climate that never changes is that it is always changing. If Nature can't pick a "normal" climate, how can we?
Zoo and Aquarium Visitor .
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.zandavisitor.com .
Great place for zoo and aquarium visitors.
There needs to be a comprehensive study of the Ocean ridges and the deep sea vents. Included in this study by using this vehicle, we must explore the bottom depths of great trenches. Mathematical extrapolations cannot tell the story of the green house gases these features emit. They could be pooring huge amounts of gases into the sea and atmosphere. We haven't taken a serious look. Our views of other moons and planets in the solar system show amazing volcanic and tectonic splits and shifts. The same could easilly be happening below our seas without our knowledge. It could be disturbing methane hydrate causing fluctuations in the methane in the atmosphere that currently not fully explained. It could show that it may not be mankind that is influencing the climate as much as some of the blame man first crowd would like to believe. By doing the research, it will show definitive answers not based on extrapolation and it will show if also have to make focus on removal of gases to keep the planet climate habitable to humans.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRon Heeren
The rover needs to explore more than just near coast. Research needs to be directed to the mid-ocean ridges and the deep sea trenches. We do not know exactly how much greenhouse gases these are producing. Like other bodies in the solar system, tectonics could be creating more havoc and gases than mathematics currently thoerizes. It could explain anomolies in the methane amounts in the atmosphere through potential disruptions of great layers of hydrates on the Ocean floor. We cannot legitimately conclude that people are the sole cause of why our climate is currently changing until we study the ocean floors, ridges, and trenches in depth. It may be that we might have to change our focus on removal planet and man produced gases rather than on withholding them only.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRon Heeren
We need to optimise the design and build a fleet of these rovers. By the way the design pressure should probably read 420 kg/square centimeter and that would give it a safety factor of about 4. The way to design the sensitive parts like battery and electronics containers would be to install them in a silicone oil or gel environment to prevent the water from reaching them, but still allow the full pressure to reach them. water tight casings are very difficult to guarantee, especially when there have to be penetrations for cables etc.
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