ChEss Home

ChEss is a field project of the Census of Marine Life programme (CoML). The main aim of ChEss is to determine the biogeography of deep-water chemosynthetic ecosystems at a global scale and to understand the processes driving these ecosystems. ChEss addresses the main questions of CoML on diversity, abundance and distribution of marine species, focusing on deep-water reducing environments such as hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, whale falls, sunken wood and areas of low oxygen that intersect with continental margins and seamounts.

News

Feb 08 : German et al. Deep Sea research paper on the ABE method for hydrothermal vent exploration - a new methodology developed under ChEss. German, C.R., D.R. Yoergera, M. Jakubaa, T.M. Shank, C.H. Langmuir, K.Nakamura 2008. Hydrothermal exploration with the Autonomous Benthic Explorer. Deep-Sea Research I 55: 203–219. Click Here for animation that uses the real data from this paper to show the 3 phases of surveying using ABE (constructed by Tim Silva and Chris German, WHOI)

Nov 07: Launch of DESEO book "Deeper than Light": A beautifully illustrated publication aimed at the public with stories from the deep. Written by 7 scientists from the CoML deepsea groups to be printed in 7 different languages. English version available for purchase an Amazon. Contact us for further info.[Amazon]

July 07: Exploration of the Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic (1 July-10 Aug.): [See Results]



July 2007: Latest news from the ChEss SSC Meeting and 30th Anniversary of Vent Discovery public event.


July 2007: BBC News Article - "Blinded" vent shrimps thriving.


Thursday 21st June 2007: ChEss Press Release: International Team to Honor 30th Anniversary of Deep-Sea Vent Discovery in Galápagos.


June 07:Expedition to the deep sea slope of the Gulf of Mexico (4th June to 6th July). PI ChEss SSC member - Prof Chuck Fisher. To follow cruise link to: http://www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov

Mar 07: ChEss SSC member Prof. Antje Boetius led the "MICROHAB" cruise to investigate seep systems and microbial diversity and functioning in the anoxic setting of the Black Sea. [Link to HERMES newsletter for details of cruise]

Meetings

•8th Larval Biology Symposium Lisbon, Portugal, 6-11th July 2008 [Link to web]

•ESOF (Euroscience Open Forum) Barcelona, Spain, 18-22nd July 2008. ChEss will be promoted during this event by the O&E team [Link to web]

•WCMB (World Conference on Marine Biodiversity) Valencia, Spain. 11 - 15th November 2008. Registration deadline 1st April. [Link to web]

•2008 Ocean Sciences Meeting Orlando, Florida 2-7th March. [Link to web]