Communications Earth & Environment
Geothermal heating and episodic cold-seawater intrusions into an isolated ridge-flank basin near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge - NEW!
Keir Becker, Richard E. Thomson, Earl E. Davis, Heinrich Villinger & C. Geoffrey Wheat*
*C-DEBI Contribution 578

Six-year records of ocean bottom water temperatures at two locations in an isolated, sedimented deep-water (∼4500 m) basin on the western flank of the mid-Atlantic Ridge reveal long periods (months to >1 year) of slow temperature rises punctuated by more rapid (∼1 month) cooling events. The temperature rises are consistent with a combination of gradual heating by the geothermal flux through the basin and by diapycnal mixing, while the sharper cooling events indicate displacement of heated bottom waters by incursions of cold, dense bottom water over the deepest part of the sill bounding the basin. Profiles of bottom water temperature, salinity, and oxygen content collected just before and after a cooling event show a distinct change in the water mass suggestive of an incursion of diluted Antarctic Bottom Water from the west. Our results reveal details of a mechanism for the transfer of geothermal heat and bottom water renewal that may be common on mid-ocean ridge flanks.



Meetings & Activities

iDOOS: DOERs Early Career Professional Development Program - NEW!
The DOERs program is a collaborative early career mentoring program designed to bring together early-career researchers from across the global deep-sea community. It seeks to foster a new generation of leadership that is capable of guiding future deep-ocean observing and research. The DOERs represent a diverse, inclusive, cross-disciplinary, international cohort of early-career researchers (graduate students through 10 years post Ph.D.). The program will run from Jan 2022 to Oct 2025 with quarterly, virtual trainings (2 hours), online peer-to-peer networking, and other opportunities. General enrollment for the DOERs program is now closed. However, we are still considering applications from dedicated future deep ocean leaders still interested in the DOERs program. To be considered for enrollment, please send us an email (info@deepoceanobserving.org) with your name, job title, affiliation, email address, and a couple of sentences about why you are interested in the program.

C-DEBI Virtual Meeting Series: How to Better Prepare Participants and Mentors for Preventing/Addressing Sexual Harassment in the Field, December 3, 2021 - NEW!
Field work is often viewed as a career highlight, shaping the trajectories of graduate students and early career researchers. Negative experiences in the field, intimidating behaviors (including hazing, bullying), harassment, discriminatory behaviors, gendered division of labor, and assault, can have severe consequences for victims and their careers. In this event, Dr. Ivona Cetinić (NASA Goddard) will discuss ways to create a safe and productive field climate, focusing on the role that PIs play in setting expectations for (and rules of) behavior, and the accountability for violations. Register in advance of this meeting on December 3, 2021 (9:30 – 11:00AM Pacific Time).

Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences: Course in Bioinformatics of Microbial Single Cells, April 3-9, 2022 - NEW!
This course will provide hands-on training in computational techniques for the integration of single amplified genome (SAG) data in studies of microbial ecology and evolution. The intended audience is faculty, postdocs, graduate students and other professionals planning to work with SAG data. The application deadline is December 3, 2021.

NSF: Webinar on the Taking Action: COVID-19 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Challenge, December 6, 2021 - NEW!
The National Science Foundation is announcing the TAKING ACTION: COVID-19 DIVERSITY, EQUITY, & INCLUSION Challenge to U.S. non-profit Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs). IHEs are asked to submit entries that describe the systemic strategies that the institution has implemented, and/or will implement, to address the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM undergraduate and graduate education programs, postdoctoral training, and STEM academic careers.  Entries will be judged by NSF and three cash winners in each of four categories will be made. Entries will be accepted via Challenge.gov until January 30, 2022. Register in advance of the webinar on preparing entries on December 6, 2021 (2:00 PM Eastern Time).

AGU21: Geomicrobiology of the Deep Biosphere Sessions, December 17, 2021
At this year's AGU Fall Meeting, three hybrid Deep Biosphere sessions - two oral and one poster - will be presented on Friday December 17. Conveners Beth Orcutt, James Bradley, Julie Huber, and Maggie Osburn are delighted to have many early career scientists in these sessions, sharing the latest-and-greatest from continental and marine subsurface investigations. Check the links to see who and what is being presented! I: Oral Session (B53B) Friday 17 Dec 13:45-15:00 CST (UTC-6); II: Oral Session (B54A) Friday 17 Dec 15:30-16:45 CST (UTC-6); and III: Poster Session (B55J) Friday 17 Dec 17:00-19:00 CST (UTC-6). Registration before the session December 17, 2021.

Gordon Research Conference/Seminar: Geobiology, January 29 - February 4, 2022 - NEW!
In this Gordon Research Conference, the scientific sessions are centered around nine open questions within the realm of Geobiological evolution, each of which focuses on a process that is key to understanding the co-evolution of a living planet. Throughout this conference we will explore the mechanisms that have enabled life to thrive and survive at the surface of the planet for more than 3.5 billion years, the roles that theory and evidence play in understanding the record of co-evolution on a living planet, and new approaches from sibling fields to Geobiology allow us to explore these ideas further." The Gordon Research Seminar on Geobiology is a unique forum for graduate students, post-docs, and other scientists with comparable levels of experience and education to present and exchange new data and cutting-edge ideas. The GRS application deadline is January 1, 2022; The GRC application deadline is January 2, 2022.

IODP-USSSP: Apply to Sail as a Scientist on IODP Expedition 399: Building Blocks of Life, Atlantis Massif, April 7 - June 7, 2023 - NEW!
The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is now accepting applications for scientific participants on Expedition 399: Building Blocks of Life, Atlantis Massif, aboard the JOIDES Resolution. The Atlantis Massif (AM) Oceanic Core Complex (30°N, Mid-Atlantic Ridge) is one of the earliest sites recognized for the extensive exposure of ultramafic and mafic rocks at the seafloor caused by an oceanic detachment fault. The Lost City Hydrothermal Field (LCHF) is hosted in peridotite on its southern wall and vents alkaline fluids rich in H2 as a by-product of serpentinization. The AM is therefore an ideal natural laboratory for studying tectonics, magmatism, and the interaction between the ocean and lithosphere, as well as their combined influence on ocean chemistry and the subseafloor biosphere. Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) in all shipboard specialties, including but not limited to sedimentologists, petrologists, micropaleontologists, paleomagnetists, petrophysicists, borehole geophysicists, igneous geochemists, inorganic geochemists, organic geochemists, and microbiologists. Application deadline: February 1, 2022. To learn more about the scientific objectives of Expedition 399, life at sea, and how to apply to sail, register in advance for the webinar on January 5, 2022 (11:00 AM EST).

IODP-USSSP: Apply to Sail as Onboard Outreach Officer for IODP Expedition 397, 398 or 399 - NEW!
The USSSP Onboard Outreach Program gives formal and informal educators, professional science communicators, artists, writers, videographers and other participants the opportunity to spend an entire expedition with an IODP shipboard party and translate their experiences for students and the general public via blogs, videos, social networking sites, live ship-to-shore video events and development of educational resources and novel science communication projects.  Expedition 397 Iberian Margin Paleoclimate sails 6 October – 6 December 2022; Expedition 398 Hellenic Arc Volcanic Field sails 6 December 2022 – 5 February 2023; and Expedition 399 Building Blocks of Life, Atlantis Massif sails 7 April – 7 June, 2023 with applications due January 21, 2022.

Gordon Research Conference/Seminar: Marine Microbes, May 28 - June 3, 2022 - NEW!
This Marine Microbes Research Conference - "The Interconnected Microbial Ocean" - aims to highlight from a cross-disciplinary perspective, the vital functional roles of microorganism in the different, complex marine ecosystems. In the spirit of GRC, it will emphasize inspiring presentations and open discussion of pioneering, unpublished research and state-of-the-art approaches, in a collaborative and interactive atmosphere. The Gordon Research Seminar on Marine Microbes is a unique forum for graduate students, post-docs, and other scientists with comparable levels of experience and education to present and exchange new data and cutting edge ideas. The 2022 Marine Microbes GRS will focus on research at the nexus of approaches to study marine microbes. The GRS application deadline is February 28, 2022 (for Speaker Abstracts) or April 30, 2022. The GRC application deadline is May 1, 2022.

Ongoing Activities:

• C-DEBI: Community Workshop Support
• NAS: Call for "Ocean-Shot" Concepts - Transformative Research for the Decade