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ABE (AUTONOMOUS BENTHIC EXPLORER): An untethered (free-roaming) submersible that usually runs in a ‘lawn mower’ pattern up and down a specified ocean track.  Its goals are to take photographs, map the bottom terrain, and collect other information about the water environment using sensors. 

ABYSSAL PLAIN: The nearly flat part of the deep-ocean floor. About 75 percent of the deep ocean is abyssal plain. (Other parts, like the mid-ocean ridge down the middle of the ocean basins, is more mountainous than flat.)

ACCRETIONARY PRISM: The sediment that gets scooped off the ocean crust when it is subducted. It forms large deposits at tectonically active continental margins.

A-FRAME: A large crane on the stern (back) of a research ship used to deploy (send out) a submersible from the ship using a winch.

ALVIN: A manned deep ocean research submersible that can dive to 4500 meters.  Alvin is owned by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).  A new and improved Alvin is currently being designed.

ARCHAEA: One-celled, microscopic and ancient organisms often found at hydrothermal vents and other extreme environments.  These are unique microbes that first appeared 3 to 4 billion years ago.

ARCTIC RIDGE: Part of global mid-ocean ridge system characterized by a network of ridges, faults and fracture zones.  From north to south, the main ridges include the Gakkel Ridge, Knipovich Ridge, Mohns Ridge, and the Kilbeinsey Ridge (which ‘points’ straight toward Iceland to its south).

AUV: an unmanned autonomous underwater vehicle.



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