Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility

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Canada's national facility for deep-sea research, the Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility (CSSF), has made it possible for Canadian ocean scientists to become established world leaders in areas of deep-sea research such as the ecology of sponge reefs, cold-water corals and hydrothermal vents, and the geochemistry and economic potential of seafloor massive sulphide and gas hydrate deposits, and for Canada to gain a world reputation for pioneering work on cabled deep-sea observatories. CSSF with university partners, has operated the remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) ROPOS since 1996. From humble beginnings CSSF has transformed ROPOS into a premier scientific tool chartered to laboratories worldwide and now provides a growing community of Canadian researchers with unprecedented access to the seafloor. Like other scientific ROVs, ROPOS is deployed from a support vessel by a team of pilot-engineers who work closely with on-board mission scientists. An electro-optical umbilical cable provides power and two-way telemetry between ship and ROV. In 2008, CSSF began assisting with developing scientific usage of SuMo, a smaller but potentially very capable ROV attached to the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Amundsen that conducts university research in the Canadian Arctic. We seek $525,000 annually for three years to continue: 1) maintaining the facility in world-class condition; 2)providing access at affordable rates to a growing community of Canadian academic researchers and 3) supporting annual costs of mobilizing ROPOS (and now SuMo) for science expeditions.