Grant: Major Resources Support Program - Infrastructure

Funds are requested to maintain the Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility (CSSF) and ROPOS, Canada's only deep ocean submersible, as a world-class facility, provide access at greatly reduced rates for Canadian academic researchers, and support ROPOS mobilization on shipboard for Canadian-led science expeditions. Since 1996, 265 Canadian faculty, students and post-doctoral fellows from 14 universities in 8 provinces across Canada have occupied 587 places on ROPOS expeditions. More than 150 publications including feature articles, have resulted from ROPOS use. Recent highlights include: - Nature publication and inclusion in NSERC's 2006 Top 50 Discoveries for documenting undersea volcanic eruption - Discovery/sampling venting gas at seafloor hydrate mounds - Discovery of previously unknown co-occurring photosynthetic and chemosymbiotic ecosystems - In situ observation and sampling of deep water corals off Canada's Atlantic and Pacific coasts - Successful installation of the VENUS cabled observatory - Search and recovery of data from a sunken BC Ferry Access to ROPOS has made it possible for Canadian ocean scientists to become established world leaders in several areas of deep-sea research and for Canada to become a world pioneer in cabled deep-sea observatories. Previous Major Facilities Access awards permitted CSSF to build and maintain a team of experienced electronics, navigation and mechanical technologists essential to deep-sea research initiatives and achieving a high standard of equipment reliability. Recent external upgrade funds greatly expanded ROPOS' capabilities: 1) deployment on a wider range of support vessels 2) state-of-the-art subsea navigation system for metre-scale precision, 3) increased manipulation and lift capabilities, 4) 3 new operating configurations, including a new mid-depth system and 5) ability to share live ROPOS video and data with users ashore. )