The essays below will help you to understand the goals and objectives of the mission and provide additional context and information about the places being explored and the science, tools, and technologies being used.
By Jeremy Potter
INDEX-SATAL 2010 will be the first in a series of joint Indonesia-U.S. expeditions to explore the ocean and help advance our knowledge, use, and protection of the ocean and its resources. This year’s joint expedition is staged from two ships: NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer and the Indonesian research vessel, Baruna Jaya IV.
Read more Baca lebih lajutThese partners are all playing an active role working with NOAA to make the INDEX 2010: “Indonesia-USA Deep-Sea Exploration of the Sangihe Talaud Region” expedition a success.
Read moreBy Steve Hammond and Wirasantosa Sugiarta
The Indonesia-USA Deep-Sea Exploration of the Sangihe Talaud Region (INDEX-SATAL 2010) expedition kicks off a new era of scientific cooperation between the United States and Indonesia. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia encouraged the joint expedition and it has been strongly supported by the U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Cameron Hume. The joint-expedition also advances the approach called for by President Obama in his landmark June 2009 speech at Cairo University.
Read more Baca lebih lajutBy Dave Lovalvo
Little Hercules is a 4,000-meter depth rated remotely operated vehicle (ROV) with an impressive past and most promising future. “Little Herc”, as he is widely referred to, is just that – “little”. But as we all know, many good things come in small packages.
Read moreBy Patricia Fryer
The northeastern region of Indonesia, just south of the Philippine islands, is made up of the islands of the Sangihe Arc on the west and the Talaud Islands ridge on the east. This is a geologically complex area of both ancient blocks of continental crust and young volcanic regions. The region has a long history of break-up of and collision between tectonic plates (blocks of the crust and upper mantle of the Earth).
Read more Baca lebih lajutBy Molly Timmers
The Coral Triangle is the most diverse and biologically complex marine ecosystem on the planet. It spans across parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Timor Leste. Covering 5.7 million square kilometers, this extraordinary expanse of ocean is almost equivalent in area to the lower 48 states.
Read more Baca lebih lajutBy Tim Shank
In 1977, scientists investigating the seafloor along the Galápagos Rift made a discovery that shook the foundations of biology. They found oases of animals thriving in the sunless depths around hydrothermal vents. Instead of photosynthetic plants, chemosynthetic microbes comprise the base of the food chain at vents.
Read more Baca lebih lajutBy James F. Holden
When I was 11 years old, the biology taught in my school was shaken to its core by a strange new discovery on the bottom of the ocean: thousands of animals huddled around super hot fluids shooting from the seafloor. These sites were called ‘deep-sea hydrothermal vents’. What made this discovery so amazing was that these animals thrived far from any sunlight. You see, up to that point, we had been taught that all life ultimately relies on photosynthesis to form the base of the food web.
Read more Baca lebih lajutBy David Butterfield
The ocean and seafloor around Indonesia are still largely unexplored and undoubtedly hold many surprises and scientific discoveries. Indonesian waters, a seafaring commercial crossroads for centuries, are also an important oceanic crossroads between the Pacific and Indian ocean basins, a place where oceanic water masses mix and oceanic plates collide. There are many biological questions that can be answered in this area, but there are also important geological and chemical issues here. What kind of hydrothermal systems exist here, and what is their impact on the local ecology? Are there significant mineral deposits forming?
Read more Baca lebih lajut