Just a reminder that Chris Mah (from Echinoblog) and I will participating in Leg 5 of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s expedition to the northern Pacific. Leg 5 of the expedition, starting Friday of this week, focuses on sampling lava flows that erupted during historic time on the Juan de Fuca and Gorda Mid-Ocean Ridges, and comparing them with the surrounding, older flows. Chris and I will be leading the biological sampling focusing on how the communities on older flows vary from those younger flows. We will be trying to address questions such as: How much time is required for a deep-sea community to form? As lava flows become older do the provide new habitats for organisms? How do the species found at volcanic ridges compare to the surrounding seamounts? Overall a great trip. You can follow Chris and I through daily posts and pinpoint our daily location.
Sounds so interesting! Good luck and have fun!