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- Resource Guide
- Web Resources
- Books & Magazines
- Activities
Resource Guide
Use this full-color, eight-page guide as a starting point for your own exploration of deep-sea hydrothermal vents -- one of the most extreme environments on the planet. This guide provides an introduction to vent geology and biology, the cutting-edge research of Extreme 2008, and the high-tech tools that scientists are using to learn more about hydrothermal vents, including the amazing submersible Alvin.
Click on a page icon below to zoom in on its content or download its pdf.
For the complete
8-page guide click here.
Web Resources
There are many wonderful Web resources available to help you dive deeper into hydrothermal vents. Here are just a few of them.
The Bridge
-- Sea Grant Ocean Sciences Education
Education Center
www.vims.edu/bridge
Deep-Sea News & Research,
by Prof. Paul Yancey, Whitman College
people.whitman.edu/~yancey/news.html#reading
Deepsea Research Newsgroup
www.le.ac.uk/biology/gat/deepsea/deepsea.html
“Deep
Sea Vents: Science at the Extreme”
www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0010/feature6
Extreme Science
www.extremescience.com/DeepestOcean.htm
Jones and Bartlett Publishers --
Invitation to Oceanography by Paul Pinet
www.jbpub.com/oceanlink2e/
Neptune's Web: Get the Facts on Oceanography
pao.cnmoc.navy.mil/Educate/
Neptune/Neptune.htm
NOAA Ocean Exploration Program
oceanexplorer.noaa.gov
Nova
Online --"Into the Abyss "
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/abyss
PBS Online/Savage Earth --"Restless Planet: Earthquakes"
www.pbs.org/wnet/savageearth/
earthquakes/html/sidebar2.html
Smithsonian Institution's Ocean Planet Exhibition
seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/oceanplanet.html
University of Delaware College of Marine Studies
www.ocean.udel.edu
U.S. Geological Survey --
This Dynamic Earth: An Introduction to Plate Tectonics
by W. Jacquelyne Kious and Robert Tilling
pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/dynamic.html
U.S. Naval Historical Center
www.history.navy.mil/index.html
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution -- "Dive and Discover" Expeditions
www.divediscover.whoi.edu
Dive in!
Books & Magazines
There are dozens of books and magazine articles about hydrothermal vents and their exploration. Use these as a starting point for your own deep-sea adventure!
Davidson, Keay, and A. R. Williams. "Under Our Skin: Hot Theories on the Center of the Earth." National Geographic 189, no. 1 (Jan. 1996): 100--112.
Dybas, Cheryl Lyn. "Life in the Abyss." Ocean Realm, Winter 1997--98, 78--95.
Earle, Sylvia A., and Al Geddings. 1980. Exploring the Deep Frontier:
The Adventure of Man in the Sea. National Geographic Society.
Greene,
Thomas F. 1998. Marine Science. New York: Amsco School Publications.
Lemonick, Michael D. "The Last Frontier." Time, Aug.
14, 1995, 52--60.
Van Dover, Cindy Lee. 2000. The Ecology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents. Princeton University Press.
Activities
The following activities, found on page 8 of the resource guide, may help expand your deep-sea learning experience. Set sail on your own voyage of discovery!
GEOLOGY
Word Definition
Define these terms:
continental shelf
continental slope
deep ocean basin
hydrothermal vent
mantle
Mid-Ocean Ridge
plate tectonics
seafloor spreading
subduction
"Ring of Fire"
Math Activities
Let's test your knowledge of the metric system. Convert
the British units of measure in “How Deep Is the Ocean?” in
the Seafloor Geology section to metric units.
Can you calculate what the atmospheric pressure is at the Earth's deepest known point, at the bottom of the Mariana Trench?
Extra-Credit Essay Topics
Why are hydrothermal vents important?
How does Old Faithful geyser work? Compare it to a hydrothermal vent.
BIOLOGY
Word Definition
Define these terms:
Archaea
biocomplexity
chemosynthesis
genomics
microbe
Pompeii
photosynthesis
sulfur
symbiosis
tubeworm
Go Fish!
Many deep-sea fish look monstrous! Your mission is to find pictures and descriptions of at least five different deep-sea fish. What special adaptations do these fish have for living in their demanding environment?
Extra-Credit Essay Topics
Compare and contrast
photosynthesis and chemosynthesis.
Oceanographer William
Beebe wrote the book Half Mile Down about
his descent to the seafloor in 1938. Read a chapter and
report on his observations.
EXPLORING THE DEEP
Word Definition
Define these terms:
bathyscaphe
bathysphere
fiber optics
HMS Challenger
"Jim suit"
ROV
scuba
sonar
submersible
Trieste
Design
a Submersible
A
new Alvin now is being designed. If you could design a submersible,
what would it look like and what special capabilities would
it have? Sketch it!
Extra-Credit Essay Topics
Jason is used in deep-sea research. Do some research and tell us all about it.
What other scientific tools are revolutionizing our study of the ocean?
Dive in!
Acknowledgments
Funding for this educational guide was provided by the National Science Foundation to the University of Delaware as part of “Extreme 2008: A Deep-Sea Adventure” — the latest in the University of Delaware’s award-winning series of online expeditions to engage students and the public in cutting-edge research and the process of scientific discovery. The guide and Web site were produced by the University of Delaware Office of Communications & Marketing.
An educational program sponsored by:
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