ABOUT THE EXPEDITION

Purpose of the Expedition:
On the first of two research cruises, scientists from the international team will study and observe black smokers. On the second research cruise, in the summer of 1998, scientists will collect a black smoker to bring back to their laboratories for further investigation. The study of the growth of these submarine sulfide structures relates directly to a wide range of earth processes that include: 
the transfer of heat and mass from the interior of Earth 
the origin and evolution of life on Earth 
the chemistry of seawater 
the formation of economically important metal deposits through geologic time 

Once the research is complete, the black smoker structure that is collected will eventually be on display in the Hall of Planet Earth (see future exhibitions) at the American Museum of Natural History, due to open in 1999. 

 
Expedition Destination: 
The sulfide structures are growing approximately 2300 meters beneath the ocean surface on the Endeavor Segment of the volcanically active Juan de Fuca Ridge, approximately 290 kilometers west of the Washington-Oregon coast. 


Expedition Dates:
The ship departs from the coast of Oregon on September 6, 1997, on a research cruise that will last twenty-one days. 


Expedition Sponsors: 
American Museum of Natural History 
 University of Washington 


Collaborators:
geologists from the American Museum of Natural History 
geologists and biologists from the University of Washington 
geologists from the Canadian Geological Survey 
biologists from Penn State University 
engineers from Deep Submergence Operations Group at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 
documentary film crew from NOVA 


©1997 American Museum of Natural History, New York City