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1. (2014) Oregon Margin Southern Hydrate Summit 1 Seafloor (RS01SUM1)

   https://doi.org/10.58046/ooi-rs01sum1  

   NSF_Ocean_Observatories_Initiative (January 2014, US NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative)

   The Southern Hydrate Summit 1 Seafloor study site, situated on the continental slope off the coast of Oregon at a water depth of ~775 meters, hosts abundant deposits of gas hydrates (methane ice) that are buried beneath, and sometime exposed at, the seafloor. The deposits vent methane-rich fluids and bubbles that escape through seeps on the ocean bottom and can rise in plumes several hundred meters above the seafloor, also fueling dense communities of microbes and animals with chemosynthetic symbiotes. These seeps provide a unique opportunity to study ocean chemistry, quantify chemical fluxes from the seafloor, and observe the impacts of methane release on overlying seawater and biota. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and, therefore, quantifying the flux of methane from the seafloor into the hydrosphere is critical to understanding carbon-cycle dynamics and the impacts of global warming on methane release, particularly following seismic events. This Low-Power junction box (LJ01B) contains geophysical and near-seafloor water column instrumentation, and is attached to an electro-optical cable that provides significant power and 1 Gb two-way communications bandwidth. This junction box is also co-located with a Medium-Power junction box that collects a complementary suite of seafloor and water column measurements. 

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2. (2014) Axial Seamount Base Seafloor (RS03AXBS)

   https://doi.org/10.58046/ooi-rs03axbs  

   NSF_Ocean_Observatories_Initiative (January 2014, US NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative)

   The Axial Base Seafloor site is located near the base of the Axial Seamount at the far western edge of the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate, at ~2,600 meters water deep. The site contains a Medium-Power junction box (MJ03A) and a Low-Power junction box (LJ03A). Axial Seamount is the largest and most magmatically robust volcano on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, ~350 km from the continental shelf, and represents an open-ocean or pelagic site in the continuum of observing scales represented in the Regional Cabled Array. Here, large-scale currents including the North Pacific Current, the subpolar gyre, and the northern end of the California Current interact. These currents transport heat, salt, oxygen, and biota, all of which are crucial to the region’s ecosystem. Their variability ranges across timescales from daily tides to seasonal winds to interannual El Niño events to Pacific Decadal Oscillations. These junction boxes contain geophysical and near-seafloor water column instrumentation, and are attached to an electro-optic cable that provides significant power and 1 Gb two-way communications bandwidth. This seafloor site is co-located with a Deep and Shallow Profiler Mooring, which collect complementary water column data. 

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3. Variations and gradients between methane seep and off-seep microbial communities in a submarine canyon system in the Northeast Pacific

   https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15119  

   Cummings, Susie; Ardor Bellucci, Lila M.; Seabrook, Sarah; Raineault, Nicole A.; McPhail, Kerry L.; Thurber, Andrew R. (January 2023, PeerJ)

   Methane seeps are highly abundant marine habitats that contribute sources of chemosynthetic primary production to marine ecosystems. Seeps also factor into the global budget of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Because of these factors, methane seeps influence not only local ocean ecology, but also biogeochemical cycles on a greater scale. Methane seeps host specialized microbial communities that vary significantly based on geography, seep gross morphology, biogeochemistry, and a diversity of other ecological factors including cross-domain species interactions. In this study, we collected sediment cores from six seep and non-seep locations from Grays and Quinault Canyons (46–47°N) off Washington State, USA, as well as one non-seep site off the coast of Oregon, USA (45°N) to quantify the scale of seep influence on biodiversity within marine habitats. These samples were profiled using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Predicted gene functions were generated using the program PICRUSt2, and the community composition and predicted functions were compared among samples. The microbial communities at seeps varied by seep morphology and habitat, whereas the microbial communities at non-seep sites varied by water depth. Microbial community composition and predicted gene function clearly transitioned from on-seep to off-seep in samples collected from transects moving away from seeps, with a clear ecotone and high diversity where methane-fueled habitats transition into the non-seep deep sea. Our work demonstrates the microbial and metabolic sphere of influence that extends outwards from methane seep habitats. 

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4. (2014) Axial Seamount ASHES Vent Field (RS03ASHS)

   https://doi.org/10.58046/ooi-rs03ashs  

   NSF_Ocean_Observatories_Initiative (January 2014, US NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative)

   The ASHES hydrothermal field is located near the base of the western caldera wall of Axial Seamount at a water depth of 1,552 meters. It hosts numerous active hydrothermal sulfide chimneys, myriad lower temperature diffuse flow sites, and abundant vent biota. The focused study area is at the ~4 m tall, actively-venting sulfide chimney called “Mushroom” and a diffuse flow site adjacent to the base of the chimney. Instrumentation at this site is focused on understanding linkages between local and far-field seismic events on fluid chemistry and temperature, chimney evolution, and impacts on vent biota. Seafloor instruments at the ASHES site are attached to a Medium-Power junction box (MJ03B) through a series of electro-optical cables. A ~4 km long extension cable from Primary Node PN03B provides significant power (375 V) and bandwidth (1 Gbs) to operate the instruments and transmit data to shore. In addition to geophysical and temperature monitoring instrumentation attached to MJ03B, the site also hosts a high-definition video camera linked to shore via a separate cable that provides 10 Gb bandwidth from PN03B. This allows full-resolution video to be transferred in real-time to shore, along with communications for the lights and pan-and-tilt capabilities. 

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5. (2014) Oregon Slope Base Seafloor (RS01SLBS)

   https://doi.org/10.58046/ooi-rs01slbs  

   NSF_Ocean_Observatories_Initiative (January 2014, US NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative)

   The Oregon Slope Base Seafloor site is located adjacent to the continental slope off the coast of Oregon at a water depth of ~2,900 meters. The site contains a Medium-Power junction box (MJ01A) and a Low-Power junction box (LJ01A). Here, ocean water properties are profoundly impacted by the California Current and internal waves. The coastal region of the Pacific Northwest is a classic wind-driven upwelling system where nutrient-rich deep waters rise to replace warmer surface waters, resulting in high marine productivity that attracts zooplankton, fish, and marine mammals. Near-bottom fauna are periodically negatively impacted by the flow of deep waters with very low oxygen concentrations (hypoxic events), and upwelling of corrosive, acidified waters onto the continental shelf. This area is also adjacent to the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which is characterized by episodic seismic tremors. The seafloor junction boxes contain geophysical and near seafloor water column instrumentation, and are attached to an electro-optical cable that provides significant power and 1 Gb two-way communications bandwidth. This seafloor site is also co-located with a Deep and Shallow Profiler Mooring, which collect complementary water column data. When coupled with other Cabled Array and Endurance Array installations off the central Oregon coast, the Slope Base infrastructure allows for measurements of a variety of coastal phenomena, including cross-shelf and along-shelf variability. 

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