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September, 2007
Scientists to use Deep-Diving REMUS to Study Volcanic and Tectonic Processes at Mid-Ocean Ridges to Understand Their Influence on Hydrothermalism
Pocasset, MA – September, 2007 – Hydroid, LLC, a leading manufacturer of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), announced today that through its representative J. Bornhoeft Industriegeraete GmbH it has won a contract for a REMUS 6000 AUV from the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences in Kiel (IFM-GEOMAR). “We are very pleased that the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) funded the procurement for the REMUS 6000 which will be the first 6000 meter rated AUV in Germany” said Thorsten Bornhoeft. IFM-GEOMAR conducts exploration of the world’s oceans, including missions which study the geology of the seafloor bottom and maritime meteorology. The institute plans to use the deep-diving REMUS 6000, Hydroid’s versatile AUV designed to operate in depths ranging from 25 meters to 6000 meters, to autonomously carry a payload to great depth in order to measure ocean water characteristics and map the seabed.
IFM-GEOMAR will use its REMUS 6000 to further the study of volcanic and tectonic processes at mid-ocean spreading ridges and to understand how these processes influence hydrothermalism, a process where superheated seawater circulating within the newly formed rock is eventually ejected into the overlying ocean as buoyant hydrothermal plumes. Measurements of the seafloor and water column at high spatial and temporal resolution are required to conduct this research. Due to its autonomous, bottom-following operational mode, the REMUS 6000 is able to carry a payload to great depth in order to measure ocean water characteristics, including conductivity, temperature, chemical composition, and map and image the seabed through bathymetry, side scan sonar, magnetics, gravimetry and photography.
The REMUS 6000 system has a basic configuration consisting of vehicle, swath bathymetric, sidescan and sediment-penetrating sonars, optical backscatter sensor, navigation units, communications equipment and the facilities to transport, deploy, service and maintain the vehicle when at sea. Users of the REMUS 6000 can acquire or adapt specialized sensors and cameras to this configuration to suit their particular needs. “We are very pleased to be the supplier of the REMUS 6000, our most technically advanced and deepest diving AUV, to the IFM-GEOMAR team for deep-ocean research,” said Christopher von Alt, president and one of the co-founders of Hydroid. “We expect that IFM-GEOMAR will task the REMUS 6000 with complex missions involving large payloads and of extended duration near the seafloor, proving that the REMUS 6000 AUV is capable of gathering data in the most adverse marine environments.”
About Hydroid, LLC
Hydroid LLC holds the exclusive license from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for the manufacture and further development of the REMUS Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) technology.
For further information contact Kevin McCarthy, Vice President of Marketing at Hydroid at Tel 508-563-6565, e-mail [email protected].
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