The Sh

inkai 6500

surveyin

g h

ydro

therm

al ven

ts near O

kinaw

a, Jap

an.

On

Janu

ary 5, 2013, the R

/V Y

oko

suka, carryin

g th

e m

ann

ed research

sub

mersib

le Shin

kai 6500, will d

epart

from

the h

eadq

uarters o

f the Jap

an A

gen

cy for M

arine-

Earth Scien

ce and

Techn

olo

gy (JA

MSTEC

) in Yo

kosu

ka, Jap

an. Th

is will b

egin

the ch

alleng

e of “Q

UELLE 2013,”

a rou

nd

-the-w

orld

voyag

e of Sh

inkai 6500, w

hich

will

spen

d ab

ou

t on

e year visiting

the In

dian

Ocean

, the

Sou

th A

tlantic, th

e Carib

bean

Sea, and

the So

uth

Pacific

Ocean

.Sh

inkai 6500 w

ill visit hyd

roth

ermal ven

t field

s, su

bm

arine seep

age sites, th

e ultra-h

adal zo

ne o

f deep

sea tren

ches an

d o

ther extrem

e enviro

nm

ents, w

here it

will sh

ed lig

ht o

n th

e hab

itable lim

its of life an

d its

un

iqu

e survival strateg

ies.Q

UELLE 2013 m

ay even an

swer th

e qu

estion

of h

ow

the

Earth b

ecame a p

lanet b

rimm

ing

with

life.

The Sh

inkai 6500 w

ill visit extreme d

eep-sea

enviro

nm

ents an

d reveal th

e hab

itable lim

its of life

and

its un

iqu

e survival strateg

ies.

Cen

tral Ind

ian O

cean R

idg

e, R

od

rigu

es Triple Ju

nctio

n area,

Ind

ian O

cean

Loo

king

for in

sigh

ts in

to th

e early evolu

tion

of life

There is active h

ydro

therm

al activity in th

is area, wh

ich is a

hab

itat for u

nu

sual o

rgan

isms su

ch as th

e scaly-foo

t g

astrop

od

, a snail w

ith scales m

ade o

f iron

sulfi

des.

It is very likely that h

ydro

gen

was a so

urce o

f energ

y for

early life; this m

arine area h

as sites spo

utin

g h

ot w

ater w

ith h

igh

hyd

rog

en co

ncen

tration

s. The m

ission

here w

ill b

e to attem

pt to

un

derstan

d early evo

lutio

n b

y stud

ying

th

e residen

t org

anism

s.

Rio

Gran

de R

ise, Sao Pau

lo R

idg

e, Sao

Paulo

PlateauTh

e first d

ive of a h

um

an-o

ccup

ied

research su

bm

ersible in

the

Sou

th A

tlantic

The R

io G

rand

e Rise is an

imm

ense rid

ge, th

at rises mo

re than

5000 m

abo

ve the o

cean fl

oo

r in th

e Sou

th A

tlantic. Th

is su

rvey will d

iscover h

ow

marin

e com

mu

nities ch

ang

e with

d

epth

and

geo

log

y. We exp

ect to fi

nd

a variety of o

rgan

isms

and

hab

itats.Sao

Paulo

Rid

ge, w

here m

aterial derived

from

the Earth

’s m

antle is exp

osed

at the sea fl

oo

r. Recen

tly, chem

osyn

thetic

com

mu

nities* w

ere disco

vered in

areas surro

un

din

g a sim

ilar en

viron

men

t in th

e Marian

as Trench

in th

e Western

Pacific.

We exp

ect to fi

nd

similar ch

emo

synth

etic com

mu

nities in

the

Sao Pau

lo R

idg

e area.Th

e Sao Pau

lo Plateau

has exten

sive natu

ral gas an

d o

il field

s, an

d p

ossib

ly the w

orld

’s mo

st extensive ch

emo

synth

etic co

mm

un

ities. If chem

osyn

thetic co

mm

un

ities are fou

nd

here,

they w

ou

ld b

e the fi

rst disco

vered in

the So

uth

Atlan

tic.

* Chem

osynthetic comm

unities: Biological comm

unities based on energy from

chemical sources, such as hydrogen sulfide and

methane em

itted from hydrotherm

al vents.

Near th

e Caym

an Islan

ds,

a British

territory in

the C

aribb

ean Sea

Are th

ere org

anism

s living

at 500°C

at deep

hyd

roth

ermal fi

elds?

The C

ayman

Rise is said

to h

ave 500 °C seaw

ater spo

utin

g

from

hyd

roth

ermal ven

ts. Here w

e will su

rvey the h

abitab

le lim

its of life an

d reveal su

rvival strategies in

extreme

enviro

nm

ents, su

ch as sym

bio

sis betw

een m

acro- an

d

micro

org

anism

s.A

t on

e time th

e Pacific an

d A

tlantic o

ceans w

ere con

nected

, an

d th

ere was exch

ang

e of o

rgan

isms b

etween

them

. H

ow

ever, 3 millio

n years ag

o a lan

d b

ridg

e con

nected

Sou

th

and

No

rth A

merica, sep

arating

the tw

o o

ceans an

d iso

lating

th

e residen

t org

anism

s from

each o

ther. W

e will su

rvey ho

w

org

anism

s orig

inatin

g in

the Pacifi

c evolved

in th

e Atlan

tic, an

d exp

lore th

eir adap

tation

s and

sub

sequ

ent evo

lutio

n.

Ton

ga an

d K

ermad

ec trench

esTo

the w

orld

’s secon

d-d

eepest

sub

marin

e trench

At JA

MSTEC

, we h

ave investig

ated th

e Ch

alleng

er Deep

in th

e M

arianas Tren

ch, th

e deep

est kno

wn

po

int in

the w

orld

’s o

ceans (10,911 m

). Ho

wever, w

e have n

ot yet in

vestigated

the

wo

rld’s seco

nd

-deep

est trench

- the To

ng

a Trench

(10,850 m

dep

th). B

y investig

ating

the To

ng

a Trench

and

com

parin

g th

e d

eepest an

d th

e secon

d-d

eepest areas in

the w

orld

’s ocean

s, w

e will b

e closer to

un

derstan

din

g u

ltra-deep

-sea ecosystem

s.Th

e Lou

isville Seamo

un

t Ch

ain is q

uickly su

bd

uctin

g in

to th

e To

ng

a and

Kerm

adec tren

ches. W

e will in

vestigate a n

um

ber

of th

ese seamo

un

ts to fi

nd

ou

t ho

w co

mm

un

ities chan

ge w

ith

dep

th.

The scaly-fo

ot g

astrop

od

Qu

est

for

the

Lim

it o

f Li

feA

n a

rou

nd

-th

e-w

orl

d v

oya

ge

by

the

Shin

kai 6

500

QU

ELLE

201

3

Shin

kai 6

500

sub

mer

sib

leSh

inka

i 650

0 is

a d

eep

su

bm

erg

ence

veh

icle

th

at c

an d

ive

to d

epth

s o

f 65

00 m

eter

s. It

car

ries

on

e re

sear

cher

an

d

two

pilo

ts.

Shin

kai 6

500

was

co

mp

lete

d in

198

9, a

nd

sin

ce it

s fi

rst

rese

arch

div

e in

199

1 h

as c

on

du

cted

su

rvey

s ar

ou

nd

Jap

an

as w

ell a

s th

rou

gh

ou

t th

e Pa

cifi

c O

cean

, an

d in

th

e A

tlan

tic

and

Ind

ian

Oce

ans.

Sup

po

rt V

esse

l Yo

kosu

kaTh

e su

pp

ort

sh

ip Y

oko

suka

per

form

s su

rvey

s o

f th

e d

eep

-se

a fl

oo

r b

y ac

tin

g a

s a

sup

po

rt s

hip

fo

r th

e Sh

inka

i 650

0.

Ab

ou

t JA

MST

ECO

n A

pri

l 1, 2

004,

th

e Ja

pan

Ag

ency

fo

r M

arin

e-Ea

rth

Sc

ien

ce a

nd

Tec

hn

olo

gy

(JA

MST

EC),

fo

rmer

ly t

he

Jap

an

Mar

ine

Scie

nce

an

d T

ech

no

log

y C

ente

r, w

as in

aug

ura

ted

as

an

ind

epen

den

t ad

min

istr

ativ

e in

stit

uti

on

. JA

MST

EC

has

th

e m

ain

ob

ject

ive

to c

on

trib

ute

to

th

e ad

van

cem

ent

of

acad

emic

res

earc

h in

ad

dit

ion

to

th

e im

pro

vem

ent

of

mar

ine

scie

nce

an

d t

ech

no

log

y in

fras

tru

ctu

re b

y su

pp

ort

ing

fu

nd

amen

tal r

esea

rch

on

an

d d

evel

op

men

t o

f th

e se

a.

Wh

at is

“Q

UEL

LE”

?Th

e n

ame

of

this

vo

yag

e, “

QU

ELLE

”, is

an

acr

on

ym f

or

“Qu

est

for

the

Lim

it o

f Li

fe”.

It a

lso

mea

ns

“ro

ots

” o

r “o

rig

in”

in G

erm

an.

Is t

his

th

e fi

rst

aro

un

d-t

he-

wo

rld

voya

ge

for

the

Shin

kai 6

500?

This

gre

at v

oya

ge

by

the

Shin

kai 6

500

and

its

sup

po

rt

vess

el Y

oko

suka

is t

he

firs

t in

15

year

s, s

ince

th

e 19

98

cru

ise

MO

DE

’98

(Mid

-Oce

anic

Rid

ge

Div

ing

Ex

ped

itio

n).

Tak

ing

th

e ea

ster

n r

ou

te a

rou

nd

th

e w

orl

d f

or

MO

DE

’98,

su

rvey

s w

ere

con

du

cted

alo

ng

th

e M

id-A

tlan

tic

Rid

ge

afte

r p

assi

ng

th

rou

gh

th

e Pa

nam

a C

anal

, an

d t

he

Sou

thw

est

Ind

ian

Rid

ge

was

su

rvey

ed a

fter

pas

sin

g t

hro

ug

h t

he

Suez

Can

al,

mak

ing

Sh

inka

i 650

0 th

e fi

rst

man

ned

su

bm

ersi

ble

to

co

nd

uct

a s

urv

ey in

th

e In

dia

n O

cean

.

Wh

y th

e so

uth

ern

hem

isp

her

e?W

hy

the

dee

p s

ea?

Du

rin

g t

he

dec

ade

follo

win

g t

he

year

200

0, s

cien

tist

s fr

om

ove

r 80

nat

ion

s p

arti

cip

ated

in t

he

“Cen

sus

of

Mar

ine

Life

”, f

urt

her

ing

ou

r u

nd

erst

and

ing

of

the

div

ersi

ty a

nd

dis

trib

uti

on

of

mar

ine

org

anis

ms.

Dee

p-

sea

zon

es b

elo

w 2

500

m, t

he

op

en o

cean

aw

ay f

rom

la

nd

, an

d e

spec

ially

th

e g

reat

er p

art

of

the

sou

ther

n

hem

isp

her

e, h

ow

ever

, wer

e fo

un

d t

o b

e as

yet

larg

ely

un

exp

lore

d. T

hat

is w

hy

we

are

go

ing

to

th

e so

uth

ern

h

emis

ph

ere

and

th

e d

eep

sea

.

Shin

kai 6

500

low

ered

to

th

e o

cean

su

rfac

e fr

om

su

pp

ort

ves

sel Y

oko

suka

2-15

, Nat

sush

ima-

cho

, Yo

kosu

ka-c

ity,

K

anag

awa,

237

-006

1, J

apan

PHO

NE

: +81

-46-

866-

3811

FAX

: +

81-4

6-86

7-90

25h

ttp

://w

ww

.jam

stec

.go

.jp/

1

24 3

2013

.2

Support Vessel Yokosuka

Shinkai 6500 submersible

Quest for the Limit of LifeAn around-the-world voyageby the Shinkai 6500

QUELLE 2013

・ A unique marine environment created by an immense seamount rising over 5000 m from the ocean floor

・ A vast submarine oil field in the deep ocean at a depth of 3600 m

Caribbean Sea, near the Cayman Islands (British territory)・ A highly diverse deep-sea

hydrothermal field; the deepest yet discovered

・ A singular biocoenosis (ecosystem) that links the Pacific and Atlantic oceans

Central Indian Ridge

Kermadec TrenchRio Grande RiseSao Paulo Ridge

Temporary return to Japan, early August(Battery replacement for Shinkai 6500)

STARTLeave Yokosuka January 5, 2013

Call at Port Louis, Mauritius, late March

Call at Cape Town, South Africa, early April

Call at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,

early May

Call at San Juan, Puerto Rico (USA), mid-June

Call at Santos,Brazil, late May

Call at Cristobal, Panama, early July

Rodrigues Triple Point area

A deep-sea hydrothermal field inhabited by chemosynthetic communities including highly unusual organisms such as the scaly-foot gastropod

・ An active region of plate convergence with the world’s second-greatest ocean depth (10,850 m)・ The Louisville Seamount Chain,

which is subducting into the Tonga and Kermadec trenches

・ Submarine volcanic activity in the active back-arc region, landward of the trenches

Sao Paulo Plateau

GOALReturn to

home port, late November

Tonga Trench

1

2

4

3

Call at Suva, Fiji, early and late October

Call at Guam (USA) mid-September

Call at Auckland, New Zealand,

late November