Collaborative Research: RAPID: Testing High Temperature Subseafloor Tracers and Optical Communication Networks at Axial Seamount Using Available DSV Alvin Bottom Time

这个RAPID项目包括两个不同的组成部分。第一个组件涉及一种新型高温玻璃材料，该材料正在开发中，用于未来的地下流体流动示踪剂。第二部分进一步发展了高速水下传感和无线通信网络的新方法。这两个项目的组成部分都是雄心勃勃的实验，通过提供具有长期潜力的基础工程研究来改变我们对海洋科学、教育和政策的态度，从而推进国家科学基金会的使命。第一个组成部分的目标是测试一种新型无毒，化学惰性荧光玻璃在热液喷口流体中的稳定性。如果该材料能够长时间承受高温喷口流体的复杂化学环境，那么它有可能在未来被用作绘制地下流体流动的示踪剂。这样的示踪剂研究将有助于解决一些关于地球的最困难但最基本的问题，包括：生命在地球内部有多深？是什么限制了生命在这些极端环境中的生长？海底生物圈有多大？它在碳循环中扮演什么角色？我们将测试这种惰性无毒材料，将其连接到温度探头上，并将探头与高温热液直接接触2-3周。我们将使用荧光显微镜检查喷口流体暴露前后的材料，并评估其物理和光学性质的任何变化。第二要素的目标是表征光多跳传感器网络的范围和稳定性。传感器网络采用空间分布的通信节点阵列，其中每个节点以类似网络的方式收集和传输数据给相邻节点。传感器网络使科学家能够同时监测一个扩展区域内的动态现象。光多跳网络将成为分布式水下传感器数据采集通信骨干的重要组成部分，以帮助监测海洋精细尺度现象。这样的网络可以通过rov、auv或其他传感器（如上述用于监测示踪剂的传感器）相互连接，或将数据传递到电缆观测站或水面浮标上，以进行实时报告。在这次航行中，我们将测试两个光调制解调器模块，这些模块沿着电缆在不同距离上多次部署。这些数据将进行统计组合，以便为未来的传感器网络任务建模和规划。

This RAPID project involves two different components. The first component relates to a novel, high-temperature glass material which is being developed for future use as a subsurface fluid flow tracer. The second component further develops a new approach to high-speed underwater sensing and wireless communications networks. Both project components are ambitious experiments that progress the NSF mission by providing foundational engineering research with the long-term potential to transform our approach to ocean science, education and policy.The goal of the first component is to test the stability of a new type of non-toxic, chemically-inert fluorescent glass in hydrothermal vent fluid. If the material can withstand the complex chemical environment of high-temperature vent fluid for an extended duration, it could potentially be used as a tracer for mapping subsurface fluid flow in the future. Such tracer studies will help to address some of the most difficult but fundamental questions we have about the Earth, including: How deep within the Earth does life live? What limits the growth of life in these extreme environments? How large is the subseafloor biosphere, and what role does it play in the carbon cycle? We will test this inert non-toxic material by attaching it to temperature probes and placing the probes in direct contact with high-temperature hydrothermal fluid for 2-3 weeks. We will examine the material before and after vent fluid exposure using fluorescence microscopy, and evaluate any changes in its physical and optical properties. The goal of the second component is to characterize the range and stability of an optical multi hop sensor network. Sensor networks employ a spatially distributed array of communicating nodes, in which each node collects and transmits data to its neighbors in a web-like fashion. Sensor networks allow scientists to monitor dynamic phenomena over an extended area simultaneously. Optical multi-hop networks will form an important part of the communication backbone for distributed, underwater sensor data collection to help monitor ocean fine-scale phenomena. Such networks can be joined by passing ROVs, AUVs, or other sensors (like those used to monitor the tracers described above) to relay data to each other or onto a cabled observatory or surface buoy for real-time reporting. On this cruise, we will test two optical modem modules deployed multiple times at varying distances apart along a cable. The data will be statistically combined in order to model and plan for future sensor network missions.