- World’s most advanced submersibles Nereus broke down due to water pressure and leading to a chain reaction.
- The ongoing projects and future projects are at stake.
- Nereus was designed to explore as part of a US National Science Foundation (NSF) programme, the hadal zone one of the least explored regions on Earth
- In Pacific’s Mariana Trench Nereus discovered a new species of anemone but systematic exploration has been lacking, leading in 2011 to the creation of the NSF project
- The aim was to determine the composition and distribution of hadal species, and the role of hadal pressures, food supply and trench topography on community structure.
- Tim Shank, a biologist at the WHOI is the chief scientist on the expedition, researchers measured the metabolic rates of invertebrates
- A blog posted by one of WHOI scientists explains how during a dive to 4,000 metres, Nereus measured how much oxygen different deep-ocean organisms breathe over time
- The study tries to answer how metabolic rates differ among species as they descend into the trench and to know if trenches are carbon sinks
- Read at: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-sci-tech-and-agri/a-loss-for-ocean-research/article6059192.ece
Exams Perspective:
- Abyssmal Zone
- Submersibles
- Hadal zone
- Mariana Trench
