|
WHOI's new chief development officer, Priya McCue (left), relishes learning about the science being done by WHOI researchers. Here, she observes a demonstration by marine geochemist Meg Tivey, who studies deep-sea hydrothermal vents. The rock specimens on the bench came from different chimney-like formations created when minerals precipitate from hot fluids that mix with cold seawater as they vent from the seafloor. Tivey is showing McCue how she measures the specimens' permeability—that is, how easily fluids flow through them. Here's how it works: A rubber tip is used to seal the tip of a pump
against the rock surface, and the pump is used to create a vacuum. As
air passes through the rock (from all portions except where the rubber
tip is placed), the vacuum will dissipate. The time it takes for the vacuum to dissipate is a measure of the rock’s permeability. Measurements are being carried out on
many different vent deposit samples to help determine where fluid
flows most easily through them. This information helps scientists learn how the deposits grow, and which areas in them provide the best places for organisms to reside. (Jayne Doucette, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)[back]
|
|
