Robotics PhD Student on Research Expedition Aboard Submersible
Dennis Giaya, PhD’27, computer engineering, journeyed with scientists aboard the submersible Alvin as part of an expedition to study hydrothermal vents in the East Pacific Rise, an area of strong volcanic activity located along the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean. He is studying robotics in ECE/MIE Professor Hanumant Singh’s Field Robotics Lab.
This article originally appeared on Northeastern Global News. It was published by Cesareo Contreras. Main photo: Dennis Giaya took the submersible trip in January. Courtesy photos
Aboard Alvin submersible, Northeastern student maps hot springs 2,500 meters below the ocean’s surface
Deep below the ocean’s surface, a hydrothermal vent emits hot fluids that can reach over 798 degrees (370 degrees Celsius).
Bio9 is “a black smoker” about 2,500 meters—1.5 miles—down along the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean, and an assortment of organisms reside along this vent, including vent zooplankton, vent shrimp, squat lobsters, and Zoarcid fish.
In January, Dennis Giaya, a Northeastern University doctoral student who works in the Field Robotics Lab, was aboard the submersible Alvin as part of an expedition to study hydrothermal vents in the East Pacific Rise, an area of strong volcanic activity located along the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean.
Attached to the vessel were two MISO 5K GoPro cameras recording video of Bio9 as it was emitting vent fluids that can reach nearly 800 degrees, Giaya says.
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Dennis Giaya took the submersible trip in January. Courtesy photos
“The surrounding seawater is around [35 degrees, or 2 degrees Celsius], and fortunately for Alvin, the immense volume of surrounding seawater compared to the fluid exiting the vent means that the temperature rapidly drops off to only a few degrees above ambient as you get away from the vent orifice,” he says.
Giaya was on the journey with scientists who have been making multiple trips to the East Pacific Rise in recent years. These scientists are trying to predict when these sites may erupt and find out more information about how hydrothermal vents are connected under the Earth’s surface, Giaya says.
Giaya assisted in capturing videos and images. With the collected footage, Giaya created 3D models of the vent’s structure, which will be useful for geologists, geochemists, and biologists who study both the deep ocean and how these structures change over time, he explains.
Read full story at Northeastern Global News