March 2023 | Oceanography
HOT VENTS BENEATH
AN ICY OCEAN
TURBULENCE PROCESSES IN
THE DEEP MEDITERRANEAN
EXTREME UPWELLING EVENTS IN
THE SEAS OF ALOR KECIL
A LOW-COST, DIY ULTRASONIC
WATER LEVEL SENSOR
Oceanography
THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE OCEANOGRAPHY SOCIETY
VOL. 36, NO. 1, MARCH 2023
Oceanography | Vol. 36, No. 1
March 2023 | Oceanography
contents VOL. 36, NO. 1, MARCH 2023
REGULAR ISSUE FEATURES
06 Hot Vents Beneath an Icy Ocean: The Aurora Vent Field, Gakkel Ridge,
Revealed
By E. Ramirez-Llodra, C. Argentino, M. Baker, A. Boetius, C. Costa, H. Dahle, E.M. Denny,
P.-A. Dessandier, M.H. Eilertsen, B. Ferre, C.R. German, K. Hand, A. Hilário, L. Hislop,
J.W. Jamieson, D. Kalnitchenko, A. Mall, G. Panieri, A. Purser, S.P. Ramalho, E.P. Reeves,
L. Rolley, S.I. Pereira, P.A. Ribeiro, M.F. Sert, I.H. Steen, M. Stetzler, R. Stokke, L. Victorero,
F. Vulcano, S. Vågenes, K.A. Waghorn, and S. Buenz
18 Sensitive Temperature Probes Detail Different Turbulence Processes in
the Deep Mediterranean
By H. van Haren
28 Extreme Upwelling Events in the Seas of the Alor Kecil, Alor Island, Indonesia
By A. Wirasatriya, R.D. Susanto, J.D. Setiawan, T. Agustiadi, I. Iskandar, A. Ismanto,
A.L. Nugraha, A.D. Puryajati, Kunarso, A. Purwandana, F. Ramdani, T.A. Lestari, J.F. Maro,
Y.N.S. Kitarake, Y.L. Sailana, M.S. Goro, B.K. Hidayah, R. Widiaratih, S. Fitria, and E.A. Dollu
38 Know Before You Go: A Community-Derived Approach to Planning for and
Preventing Sexual Harassment at Oceanographic Field Sites
By A. Ackerman, K. Yarincik, S. Murphy, I. Cetinić, A. Fundis, A. Miller, E. Shroyer,
A. Busse, Q. Covington, A. DeSilva, A. Haupt, L. Johnson, C. Lee, L. Lorenzoni, B. Murphy,
J. Ramarui, B. Rosenheim, and D. Steinberg
DEPARTMENTS
05 QUARTERDECK • How Might Artificial Intelligence Affect Scientific Publishing?
By E.S. Kappel
44 OCEAN EDUCATION • UC San Diego Undergraduates and the Ocean
Discovery Institute Collaborate to Form a Pilot Program in Culturally
Responsive Mentoring
By L.G. Adams, A.V. Bintliff, H.A. Jannke, and D. Kacev
51 DIY OCEANOGRAPHY • A Low-Cost, DIY Ultrasonic Water Level Sensor
for Education, Citizen Science, and Research
By P. Bresnahan, E. Briggs, B. Davis, A.R. Rodriguez, L. Edwards, C. Peach, N. Renner,
H. Helling, and M. Merrifield
59 HANDS-ON OCEANOGRAPHY • Do pH-Variable Habitats Provide Refuge for
Stone Crabs from Coastal Acidification?
By P.M. Gravinese, A.L. Smith, S.M. Stewart, and J. Paradis
67 MEETING REPORT • Community Perspectives on Justice, Equity, Diversity,
and Inclusion in Ocean Sciences: A Town Hall Discussion
By E.L. Meyer-Gutbrod, J.J. Pierson, and M. Behl
74 FROM THE TOS JEDI COMMITTEE • Relevance of the Guru-Shishya
Parampara to Modern-Day Mentorship
By M. Behl and C. Pattiaratchi
76 THE OCEANOGRAPHY CLASSROOM • The Soft Approach to Software
By S. Boxall
78 CAREER PROFILES • Angelica Rodriguez, Research Scientist, NASA Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology • Kaitlyn Lowder,
Program Manager, The Ocean Foundation
06
59
18
28
March 2023 | Oceanography
Oceanography | Vol. 36, No. 1
SAVE THE DATE
ON THE COVER
An isobaric gas-tight (IGT) sampler is
extracting fluids at the Ganymede smoker on
the Aurora Vent Field, Gakkel Ridge. See the
article by Ramiriz-Llodra et al. on page 6 for
details. Image credit: REV Ocean/HACON
CONTACT US
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Electronic versions of articles will be updated.
FEBRUARY 18–23, 2024
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
March 2023 | Oceanography
The Oceanography Society was founded in 1988 to advance
oceanographic research, technology, and education, and
to disseminate knowledge of oceanography and its appli-
cation through research and education. TOS promotes
the broad understanding of oceanography, facilitates con-
sensus building across all the disciplines of the field, and
informs the public about ocean research, innovative tech-
nology, and educational opportunities throughout the spec-
trum of oceanographic inquiry.
OFFICERS
PRESIDENT: Deborah Bronk
PRESIDENT-ELECT: Paula Bontempi
PAST-PRESIDENT: Andone Lavery
SECRETARY: Allison Miller
TREASURER: Susan Banahan
COUNCILORS
AT-LARGE: Mona Behl
APPLIED TECHNOLOGY: Anna Michel
BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY: Kim S. Bernard
CHEMICAL OCEANOGRAPHY: Jun Nishioka
EARLY CAREER: Erin Satterthwaite
EDUCATION: Sara Harris
GEOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY: Laura Guertin
OCEAN DATA SCIENCE: Vicki Ferrini
OCEAN SCIENCE AND POLICY: Leopoldo C. Gerhardinger
PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY: LuAnne Thompson
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE: Josette McLean
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Jennifer Ramarui
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EDITOR
Ellen S. Kappel, Geosciences Professional Services Inc.
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Vicky Cullen
DESIGN/PRODUCTION
Johanna Adams
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Claudia Benitez-Nelson, University of South Carolina
Ian Brosnan, NASA Ames Research Center
Grace Chang, Integral Consulting Inc.
Kjersti Daae, University of Bergen
Mirjam Glessmer, Lund University
Charles H. Greene, University of Washington
Amelia Shevenell, University of South Florida
William Smyth, Oregon State University
Peter Wadhams, University of Cambridge
Oceanography contains peer-reviewed articles that chronicle
all aspects of ocean science and its applications. The journal
presents significant research, noteworthy achievements, excit-
ing new technology, and articles that address public policy and
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communication in the ocean sciences.
Oceanography (Print ISSN 1042-8275; Online ISSN 2377-617X)
is published by The Oceanography Society, 1 Research Court,
Suite 450-117, Rockville, MD 20850 USA. Oceanography arti-
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to reproduce the material. Please contact Jennifer Ramarui at
info@tos.org for further information.
Oceanography
tos.org/oceanography
March 2023 | Oceanography
SUBMIT A MANUSCRIPT
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TO
OBJECTIVE OF OCEANOGRAPHY
Oceanography is an open-access journal whose main goal is
cross-disciplinary communication in the ocean sciences. The
journal publishes peer-reviewed articles that present significant
research, noteworthy achievements, and exciting new technol-
ogies, and that address aspects of undergraduate and graduate
education in the ocean sciences.
LANGUAGE STYLE
Submitted manuscripts should be of broad interest to our read-
ership. The desired writing style is less technical and more com-
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ity and simplicity. Target your manuscript to graduate students,
professional oceanographers of all traditional disciplines, and
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WHAT GETS OUR ATTENTION
FEATURE ARTICLES (<7,000 words) provide an outlet for
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research papers from across the full spectrum of ocean sciences.
BREAKING WAVES (<3,500 words) articles describe novel
approaches to multidisciplinary problems in oceanography.
These provocative papers present findings that are synthetic by
design and have the potential to move the field of oceanography
forward or in new directions.
OCEAN EDUCATION (<3,500 words) is a place to learn about
the ocean. These peer-reviewed articles should inspire teachers
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DIY OCEANOGRAPHY (<3,500 words) shares all of the rel-
evant information on a homemade sensor, instrument, or soft-
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See the online Oceanography Author Guidelines and the Manuscript Guide for a full listing of
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https://tos.org/oceanography/guidelines
March 2023 | Oceanography
By publication time for this Quarterdeck column, ChatGPT
will already be old news. When the first stories about this arti-
ficial intelligence (AI) language tool came out early this year,
much of the discussion was focused on how the classroom might
change if non-beings can write credible essays. Instructors cov-
ering the spectrum of student ages questioned whether stu-
dents who handed off assignments to robots would still learn to
express themselves in writing. Some schools considered banning
ChatGPT, though how that would work is not clear, while some
instructors began to ask students to hand write their assignments.
Lately, news coverage about ChatGPT has turned toward the
scarier conversations people are having with the language robot.
Despite initial guardrails built into the platform, it appears that
ChatGPT can be tricked quite easily into having darker discus-
sions. For my part, instead of trying to be clever with this new
tool, I decided to ask it a simple question pertinent to my work as
editor of this journal: How might ChatGPT affect scientific pub-
lishing? I enlisted TOS Executive Director Jenny Ramarui, ever
on top of the latest technology, to put the question to ChatGPT
for me. Here is the robot’s response:
As an AI language model, ChatGPT can potentially change the
science publishing industry in a number of ways, although the full
extent of this change is difficult to predict. Here are a few potential
ways in which ChatGPT could have an impact:
1. Improved accuracy and quality of scientific writing: One of the
major advantages of using an AI language model like ChatGPT
in scientific publishing is that it can help improve the accuracy
and quality of scientific writing. ChatGPT can suggest edits,
correct grammar and syntax errors, and provide feedback on
writing style and clarity, helping authors to produce more pol-
ished and error-free manuscripts.
2. Faster review and turnaround times: Peer review is a critical
component of the scientific publishing process, but it can be a
time-consuming and sometimes subjective process. AI language
models like ChatGPT could potentially help speed up the review
process by automatically identifying potential issues with a
manuscript and providing feedback to reviewers. This could
lead to faster turnaround times for reviews and ultimately,
faster publication times.
3. More accessible and personalized scientific writing: Another
potential benefit of using an AI language model like ChatGPT
in scientific publishing is that it could help make scientific
writing more accessible and personalized. ChatGPT could be
used to automatically generate summaries of scientific papers in
plain language, making the research more accessible to a wider
audience. Additionally, ChatGPT could be used to tailor the
language and writing style of scientific papers to specific audi-
ences or readers, making the research more engaging and easier
to understand.
4. New forms of scientific writing and research: Finally, AI lan-
guage models like ChatGPT could potentially lead to new forms
of scientific writing and research. For example, ChatGPT could
be used to generate new hypotheses or research questions based
on existing data or to explore alternative explanations for exist-
ing findings. Additionally, ChatGPT could be used to generate
new forms of data visualization or to create interactive scien-
tific content that engages readers in new ways.
Language tools such as ChatGPT are no doubt here to stay,
and they can be helpful if used with caution. While speeding up
peer review is a noble goal, simply identifying potential issues
is only the first step in the review process. Good peer reviewers
would read manuscripts more than once. In addition to checking
whether the issues AI flagged were indeed valid, they would use
their deep subject knowledge to identify other, more nuanced
problems. This process still takes time. For scientists burdened
with numerous peer review requests, will AI wind up being a
substitute for truly scrutinizing a manuscript? Can an article be
called “peer reviewed” if the review was largely or completely
conducted by AI? If two or three reviewers rely on AI to review
the same manuscript, will all three reviews largely be the same?
If that were the case, our science would be the loser.
ChatGPT is an alluring tool. It took no more than a minute
to answer my question about scientific publishing. If I proposed
a subject, it could probably write a Quarterdeck column in the
same amount of time. But it is no substitute for human experi-
ence and judgment. For the publishing industry and our scien-
tific community, these new and emerging AI language platforms
generate as many questions as answers.
ARTICLE DOI. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2023.113
QUARTERDECK
How Might Artificial Intelligence
Affect Scientific Publishing?
Ellen S. Kappel, Editor
Oceanography | Vol. 36, No. 1
REGULAR ISSUE FEATURE
HOT VENTS BENEATH
AN ICY OCEAN
THE AURORA VENT FIELD, GAKKEL RIDGE, REVEALED
By Eva Ramirez-Llodra, Claudio Argentino, Maria Baker, Antje Boetius, Carolina Costa, Håkon Dahle, Emily M. Denny,
Pierre-Antoine Dessandier, Mari H. Eilertsen, Benedicte Ferre, Christopher R. German, Kevin Hand, Ana Hilário,
Lawrence Hislop, John W. Jamieson, Dimitri Kalnitchenko, Achim Mall, Giuliana Panieri, Autun Purser, Sofia P. Ramalho,
Eoghan P. Reeves, Leighton Rolley, Samuel I. Pereira, Pedro A. Ribeiro, Muhammed Fatih Sert, Ida H. Steen, Marie Stetzler,
Runar Stokke, Lissette Victorero, Francesca Vulcano, Stig Vågenes, Kate Alyse Waghorn, and Stefan Buenz
R/V Kronprins Haakon is being positioned here on
an ice floe to drift toward the Aurora Vent Field on
Gakkel Ridge, Arctic Ocean. © REV Ocean
Oceanography | Vol. 36, No. 1
March 2023 | Oceanography
A SHORT HISTORY OF GAKKEL
RIDGE EXPLORATION
Forty-five years after the discovery
of hydrothermal vents (Corliss et al.,
1979), research into these unique hab-
itats and their rich submarine ecosys-
tems has brought about revolutionary
findings in biology, chemistry, and geo-
physics. Understanding how these dis-
tinctive ecosystems are supported by
sunlight- independent microbial primary
productivity based on chemosynthesis
changed the way we understand life on
Earth (Van Dover et al., 2018). They have
inspired our understanding of the ori-
gin of life on Earth (Martin et al., 2008)
and are now influencing the choice of
exploration targets aimed at the discov-
ery of extraterrestrial life in our solar
system (Hand and German, 2018; Hand
et al., 2020). The exotic faunal commu-
nities at active hydrothermal vents are
also of high interest given their physio-
logical adaptations and the high degree
of endemicity, and for their potential in
providing marine genetic resources of
use in biomedicine, cosmetics, and bio-
fuels, among others (Van Dover et al.,
2018). In addition, interest in the poten-
tial for mineral resources in hydrother-
mal vent deposits has greatly increased
in the last two decades, and exploration
licenses for such resources have been
granted for national and international
waters (Jones et al., 2020).
Since the discovery of deep-sea hydro-
thermal vents in 1977, just over 30% of the
global mid-ocean ridge system has been
investigated (Beaulieu et al., 2015). To
date, exploration has yielded an inventory
of 722 confirmed high-temperature vent
sites, with a further 720 high- temperature
vents inferred from water column data,
as reported in the InterRidge Vents
Database in September 2022 (Beaulieu
and Szafranski, 2020). There may be hun-
dreds of additional active hydrothermal
systems and their associated faunal com-
munities yet to be discovered worldwide
along the unexplored branches and sec-
tions of the global mid-ocean ridge sys-
tem, particularly along the least explored
slow and ultra-slow spreading ridges
(Beaulieu et al., 2015).
Current data on vent communities
globally has identified 11 biogeographic
provinces, but their delineation is still
being debated (Rogers et al., 2012). Until
now, the vent faunal communities of the
ice-covered Gakkel Ridge in the Central
Arctic Ocean remained unexplored
because of their remote and climatologi-
cally challenging location. This study puts
the Aurora Vent Field of the Gakkel Ridge
on the global map of chemosynthetic-
based ecosystems, providing an initial
overview of the vent field and the eco-
system it supports.
The Gakkel Ridge (Figure 1a) extends
1,800 km from the northern end of the
Lena Trough off Northeast Greenland
(81°N) to near the Siberian shelf at
87°N. It was initially predicted to host
an extremely low number of active sites
based on the assumption that hydrother-
mal flux scaled directly with spreading
rate (E.T. Baker et al., 1996). This hypoth-
esis was revisited after exploration of the
Southwest Indian Ridge showed that even
ultra-slow spreading ridges could host
abundant submarine venting (German
et al., 1998). Technological and method-
ological challenges of working at great
depth in regions of permanent sea ice
cover have constrained the exploration
of the Gakkel Ridge. In 2001, Edmonds
et al. (2003) obtained first evidence of
hydrothermal venting on nine to twelve
discrete locations along the Gakkel Ridge
during the InterRidge two-icebreaker
(R/V Polarstern and USCGC Healy)
Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge Expedition
(AMORE; Figure 1a). Continued explo-
ration during the Arctic Gakkel Vents
(AGAVE) expedition in 2007 provided
evidence of explosive volcanism at 85°N
and demonstrated that large-scale pyro-
clastic activity is possible along even the
deepest portions of the global mid-ocean
ridge volcanic system (Sohn et al., 2008).
Seismic studies suggest substantial mag-
matic activity, serpentinization, and fluid
flow at this slowest of all Earth’s ridge sys-
tems (Michael et al., 2003; Schlindwein
and Schmid, 2016). Between 2002 and
2010, the ChEss program aimed to
improve understanding of the global bio-
geography of chemosynthetic-based eco-
systems (M.C. Baker et al., 2010). Based
on the increasing evidence of hydro-
thermal venting along the Gakkel Ridge,
the ChEss program identified a num-
ber of poorly investigated regions where
research efforts should focus. The Gakkel
Ridge was recognized as one of the miss-
ing pieces of the global biogeographic
puzzle (Ramirez-Llodra et al., 2007).
Building on the results of the AMORE
2001 expedition (Edmonds et al., 2003),
in 2014, R/V Polarstern expedition PS86
AURORA aimed to study geophysical,
geological, geochemical, and biological
processes at hydrothermal vents on the
Gakkel Ridge, with a focus on the southern
segment (Boetius, 2015). In this region,
the spreading rate is 14.5–13.5 mm yr–1,
(slightly faster than the average rate for
the overall ridge), and the ridge axis floor
ABSTRACT. Evidence of hydrothermal venting on the ultra-slow spreading Gakkel
Ridge in the Central Arctic Ocean has been available since 2001, with first visual evi-
dence of black smokers on the Aurora Vent Field obtained in 2014. But it was not until
2021 that the first ever remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives to hydrothermal vents
under permanent ice cover in the Arctic were conducted, enabling the collection of
vent fluids, rocks, microbes, and fauna. In this paper, we present the methods employed
for deep-sea ROV operations under drifting ice. We also provide the first description
of the Aurora Vent Field, which includes three actively venting black smokers and dif-
fuse flow on the Aurora mound at ~3,888 m depth on the southern part of the Gakkel
Ridge (82.5°N). The biological communities are dominated by a new species of coccu-
linid limpet, two small gastropods, and a melitid amphipod. The ongoing analyses of
Aurora Vent Field samples will contribute to positioning the Gakkel Ridge hydrother-
mal vents in the global biogeographic puzzle of hydrothermal vents.
Oceanography | Vol. 36, No. 1
at 4,200 m depth is bounded by steep rift
valley walls and punctuated by a series
of axial volcanic ridges and smaller vol-
canic mounds (Michael et al., 2003).
Edmonds et al. (2003) inferred the pres-
ence of an active hydrothermal vent site
from chemical data and assigned to a
small (1.5–2 km in diameter) volcanic
mound rising approximately 400 m from
the seafloor, at depths between 4,300 m
and 3,850 m (Figure 1b,c). A dredge from
south to north across this mound recov-
ered components of a sulfide chimney
in addition to abundant pillow basalts.
In parallel, in situ sensor data from a
MAPR (Miniature Autonomous Plume
Recorder) instrument attached to the
dredge revealed evidence for a turbid-
ity anomaly consistent with a nearby
source of active black smoker venting at a
depth of 2,800–3,400 m (Edmonds et al.,
2003; Michael et al., 2003). During the
PS86 AURORA expedition, CTD profil-
ing, coupled with water column chemis-
try, revealed further evidence for ongoing
hydrothermal activity on the Aurora
mound (Boetius, 2015; German et al.,
2022a). Seabed surveys with the Ocean
Floor Observation System (OFOS) deep-
tow camera across the summit from
north to south revealed deep rifts through
the thick sedimented seafloor across the
base of the volcanic mound. This imag-
ing, paired with CTD data, led to the first
imaging of an active black smoker on
Gakkel Ridge at 82°53.83'N, 6°15.32'W,
at ~3,900 m depth, on what was named
the Aurora Vent Field (AVF; Boetius,
2015; German et al., 2022a). The OFOS
surveys showed that the Aurora mound
has steep vertical basalt walls intermixed
with lower angle, sediment-draped steps.
The top of the mound is flat and sediment
covered, and the observed fauna con-
sisted of high abundances of filter feeders,
mostly glass sponges and anemones, and
at least two species of shrimp. Ophiuroids,
swimming polychaetes, and crustaceans
(potentially isopods) were also observed.
At the active vent site, bacterial mats and
small gastropods and amphipods were
observed (Boetius, 2015). The physico-
chemical and microbiological character-
ization of the huge buoyant vent plume
hovering above the AVF showed evidence
for venting fluids enriched in meth-
ane, and possibly hydrogen, fueling high
microbial activity in the plume (German
et al., 2022a; Massimiliano Molari, Max
Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology,
pers. comm., 2022). Due to the lack of a
deep-diving remotely operated vehicle
(ROV), however, no physical samples of
fluids, rocks, microbes, or animals could
be collected from the vent field.
In 2019, the Hot Vents in an Ice-
Covered Ocean (HACON19) cruise on
R/V Kronprins Haakon returned to the
Aurora mound, with the aim of conduct-
ing a multidisciplinary survey of the sea-
floor ecosystems centered around the
coordinates of the black smoker iden-
tified in 2014 by the PS86 Aurora team
(Boetius, 2015). This cruise obtained
new visual data of the AVF with the
towed Ocean Floor Observation and
Bathymetry System (OFOBS; Purser
et al., 2019; German et al., 2022a), con-
firming the presence of at least three black
smokers colonized by sparse fauna com-
posed of mostly gastropods and amphi-
pods (Bünz et al., 2019). In addition, a
wealth of samples on the sedimented sur-
face of the Aurora mound were collected,
Gakkel Ridge
Greenland
Svalbard
FIGURE 1. (a) Map of the Gakkel Ridge in the Central Arctic Ocean with known hydrothermal plume
signals indicated by yellow stars (from Edmond et al., 2003) and the Aurora Vent Field marked with
a red star. (b) A red triangle locates the Aurora Vent Field within the Aurora mound based on pre-
vious bathymetry from the AMORE and AURORA/AWI expeditions. (c) The Aurora Vent Field (red
triangle) is shown against multibeam bathymetry of the Aurora mound based on bathymetry from
the HACON19 and HACON21 expeditions.