Deep Ocean Exploration Institute Investigating Earth's Dynamic Processes   Email     Print   PDF

	Enlarge Image Chimney-like structures called black smokers emit superheated water full of minerals from the seafloor. First discovered in 1979 in the eastern Pacific, they have since been found around the world, some with temperatures of more than 400°C (752°F). (Image from DSV Alvin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
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	» DOEI Podcasts DOEI has published podcasts, digital video and audio files, focusing on topics important to ocean science. » Deep Ocean Exploration Institute in Oceanus Magazine Check out an Oceanus Magazine issue devoted to research of the Deep Ocean Exploration Institute.

Exploration means different things to different people often depending on the period of time in question. To 18th and 19th century naturalists it meant going beyond the shores of Europe to discover all manner of things biological and material. To late 19th and early 20th century engineers it meant developing the techniques to join oceans by canals, build bridges and railways that spanned continents, and develop the technology that we now take for granted that propels us through air, land and sea. It is innate for humans to explore; seeking that which defies explanation or lies just out of reach—our intuition telling us it is likely to be there. It is not an understatement to say that human evolution has been in large part driven by exploration at many physical and spiritual levels.

The Deep Ocean Exploration Institute (DOEI) serves the critical role of fostering scientific inquiry throughout WHOI—it helps to facilitate cross-disciplinary science and the engineering advances that often enable discovery. The world's oceans and the Earth's crust and mantle beneath them offer some of the best windows into how our planet works and the processes that drive chemical, biological and geological activity which sustain and shape our dynamic world.

Revealing the fundamental forces that drive our planet
Earth and its oceans are not a fixed and static surface veneer, but rather components of a dynamic, interacting system—all set in motion by underlying forces at work in deeper layers of our planet. The Deep Ocean Exploration Institute seeks to learn how the entire Earth system works by investigating the planetary processes that shape Earth's surface, regulate the chemistry of its oceans, and affect its inhabitants.

Spearheading development of deep-submergence technology
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has consistently pioneered deep-sea technology to penetrate the oceans. The Oceanographic is home to the National Deep Submergence Facility, which operates the world-famous submersible Alvin, and several remotely operated and autonomous vehicles that provide unparalleled access to the deep. The Deep Ocean Exploration Institute promotes development of deep-sea technology, including vehicles, sensors, and seafloor observatories, to establish a continuous, long-term exploratory presence in the deep ocean.

Natural disasters, natural resources, and life in extreme environments
At the forefront of the ocean frontier, the Deep Ocean Exploration Institute investigates the fundamental planetary forces and phenomena that:

* generate earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis
* forge large offshore oil, gas, and mineral deposits
* support thriving communities of life, on and below the seafloor, that hold key clues to the evolution of life on Earth and the possibility of life on other planets.

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