Grant: Major Resources Support Program - Infrastructure

Canada's national facility for deep-sea research, the Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility (CSSF), has made it possible for Canadian ocean scientists to become established world leaders in areas of deep-sea research such as the ecology of sponge reefs, cold-water corals and hydrothermal vents, and the geochemistry and economic potential of seafloor massive sulphide and gas hydrate deposits, and for Canada to gain a world reputation for pioneering work on cabled deep-sea observatories. CSSF with university partners, has operated the remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) ROPOS since 1996. From humble beginnings CSSF has transformed ROPOS into a premier scientific tool chartered to laboratories worldwide and now provides a growing community of Canadian researchers with unprecedented access to the seafloor. Like other scientific ROVs, ROPOS is deployed from a support vessel by a team of pilot-engineers who work closely with on-board mission scientists. An electro-optical umbilical cable provides power and two-way telemetry between ship and ROV. In 2008, CSSF began assisting with developing scientific usage of SuMo, a smaller but potentially very capable ROV attached to the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Amundsen that conducts university research in the Canadian Arctic. We seek $525,000 annually for three years to continue: 1) maintaining the facility in world-class condition; 2)providing access at affordable rates to a growing community of Canadian academic researchers and 3) supporting annual costs of mobilizing ROPOS (and now SuMo) for science expeditions. These funds will support deep water research in all three of Canada's oceans. On the west coast, ROPOS will serve to install and maintain the NEPTUNE Canada and VENUS cabled seafloor observatories, and support studies of sponge reefs, coastal hypoxia and mineral deposits on an offshore volcanic ridge. Researchers in Atlantic Canada will use ROPOS for studies of ecological connectivity in the deep waters of the Gulf of Maine Discovery Corridor, and to study deep-water coral habitats in northern waters up to Hudson Strait. In the Arctic, the ROV 'SuMo' will be used to study biodiversity hotspots on the seafloor in the Northwest Passage.