Starting November 30, students at McGee's Crossroads Middle School will take a deep-sea voyage over a mile down in the Pacific Ocean with marine scientists from the University of Delaware as part of Extreme 2004: Exploring the Deep Frontier, a research expedition that will be broadcast internationally via the Internet. A scientific team led by UD marine biologist Craig Cary will set sail aboard the 274-foot research vessel Atlantis from Manzanillo, Mexico, on a 21-day mission to explore the ocean's depths. Once at the dive site in the ocean 1,200 miles west of Costa Rica, the scientists will board the submersible Alvin and plummet to one of the most demanding environments on Earth - super-hot hydrothermal vents over a mile deep on the seafloor. The sub and the research vessel are owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Under Dr. Cary's direction, researchers from the United States, Austria, Germany, Serbia, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, and New Zealand will make use of the submersible explorer Alvin to study hydrothermal vent sites and the unusual creatures that inhabit them, including various bacteria, tubeworms, and the Pompeii worm - one of the most heat-tolerant animals on the planet. These creatures live at the extreme, with very hot temperatures close to the vents and near-freezing temperatures in the seawater surrounding them. "This year, we will be introducing students to the concepts of environmental biocomplexity and genomics," Dr. Cary said. "We will be using scientific tools borrowed from the Human Genome Project to investigate how these organisms survive such hostile conditions." Over 52,000 students at 750 schools are participating in Extreme 2004. They represent nearly every U.S. state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam, as well as Canada, Iran, Mexico, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Uzbekistan. A companion program, presented in the German language, also is being hosted in Austria this year. Beginning November 30, students and the public can log on to the expedition Web site at www.ocean.udel.edu/extreme2004 and see the scientists' latest discoveries via video clips, photos, interviews, and journals that will be relayed daily back to shore. Students also will have an opportunity to write to the research team, propose experiments to be conducted at sea, and participate in a virtual science fair. Selected schools also will participate in a conference call with the scientists working live aboard the submersible Alvin on the seafloor. Extreme 2004: Exploring the Deep Frontier is sponsored by the University of Delaware Graduate College of Marine Studies and the National Science Foundation. Additional support is provided by NOAA Sea Grant and WHYY-TV, the Public Broadcasting System affiliate serving Wilmington and Philadelphia.
