Deborah Kelley
Professor
MG&G
Specialty
Geological and microbiological processes at submarine volcanoes and hot springs
- dskelley@uw.edu
- (206) 685-9556
- Website
- Office: OTB 261
My research focuses on understanding process linkages among active submarine volcanoes, hydrothermal vents, and the life that they support. I am the Director for the underwater cabled component of the National Science Foundation's Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) known as the Regional Cabled Array. I have participated on over 40 blue water research expeditions and routinely use robotic vehicles that include the ROV's ROPOS and Jason; I have been on >50 dives in the three person submersible Alvin to depths of 12,000 feet. Most of my work focuses on hydrothermal systems at along the Juan de Fuca Ridge at Axial Volcano and the Endeavour Segment, and on the novel Lost City Hydrothermal Field that I helped discover in 2000. Lost City is a remarkable system with conditions never before seen in the marine environment. Here, limestone chimneys that rise over 180 feet above the surrounding seafloor, vent pH11 fluids rich in hydrogen and methane, as well as other abiotic hydrocarbons. The field has been active for at least 150,000 years. Most recently we have been funded by NSF to use the ROV Jason and the underwater autonomous vehicle Sentry to examine a novel methane seep site called Pythias Oasis, where venting from the sediments is reminiscent of a hydrothermal vent.
The Regional Cabled Array is an exciting project that includes installation of ~900 km of high power and bandwidth fiber optic cables on the seafloor. Key sites off the Pacific Northwest coast are now instrumented with 140 seafloor and six instrumented water column sensors that are streaming live, real-time data to shore providing new insights into submarine earthquake generation, ocean acidification, climate change, an active underwater volcano, methane seeps and life in the extreme environments of hydrothermal vents. All data, including high definition video, and digital still images are now being made available to the global audience over the Internet in real-time. Live HD imagery from the Axial Seamount, located >400 km offshore and at a water depth of ~5000 ft are now streaming to shore live 8 times a day.
One of the things I am most passionate about is providing students and young researchers the opportunity to participate directly in sea-going research. In the past ~ 10 years, over 150 students have participated in the VISIONS at sea experiential program. I teach this annual summer - fall class (Ocean 411: Sea-Going Research & Discovery) that provides sea-going research and outreach experience to undergraduates and graduate students. I also teach Ocean 121 Deep Sea Exploration: Submarine Volcanoes and Life each winter with the goal of sharing cutting-edge technologies that are currently being used and developed to explore and interact with the oceans in new ways.
I am also a co-author on the 414 page book "Discoverying the Deep: A Photographic Atlas of the Seafloor and Oceanic Crust", which includes hundreds of high resolution images of the seafloor, underwater volcanoes, hot springs and the amazing life that they host.
Research Associates
Research Topics
Deborah Kelley
Professor
MG&G
Specialty
Geological and microbiological processes at submarine volcanoes and hot springs
- dskelley@uw.edu
- (206) 685-9556
- Website
- Office: OTB 261
My research focuses on understanding process linkages among active submarine volcanoes, hydrothermal vents, and the life that they support. I am the Director for the underwater cabled component of the National Science Foundation's Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) known as the Regional Cabled Array. I have participated on over 40 blue water research expeditions and routinely use robotic vehicles that include the ROV's ROPOS and Jason; I have been on >50 dives in the three person submersible Alvin to depths of 12,000 feet. Most of my work focuses on hydrothermal systems at along the Juan de Fuca Ridge at Axial Volcano and the Endeavour Segment, and on the novel Lost City Hydrothermal Field that I helped discover in 2000. Lost City is a remarkable system with conditions never before seen in the marine environment. Here, limestone chimneys that rise over 180 feet above the surrounding seafloor, vent pH11 fluids rich in hydrogen and methane, as well as other abiotic hydrocarbons. The field has been active for at least 150,000 years. Most recently we have been funded by NSF to use the ROV Jason and the underwater autonomous vehicle Sentry to examine a novel methane seep site called Pythias Oasis, where venting from the sediments is reminiscent of a hydrothermal vent.
The Regional Cabled Array is an exciting project that includes installation of ~900 km of high power and bandwidth fiber optic cables on the seafloor. Key sites off the Pacific Northwest coast are now instrumented with 140 seafloor and six instrumented water column sensors that are streaming live, real-time data to shore providing new insights into submarine earthquake generation, ocean acidification, climate change, an active underwater volcano, methane seeps and life in the extreme environments of hydrothermal vents. All data, including high definition video, and digital still images are now being made available to the global audience over the Internet in real-time. Live HD imagery from the Axial Seamount, located >400 km offshore and at a water depth of ~5000 ft are now streaming to shore live 8 times a day.
One of the things I am most passionate about is providing students and young researchers the opportunity to participate directly in sea-going research. In the past ~ 10 years, over 150 students have participated in the VISIONS at sea experiential program. I teach this annual summer - fall class (Ocean 411: Sea-Going Research & Discovery) that provides sea-going research and outreach experience to undergraduates and graduate students. I also teach Ocean 121 Deep Sea Exploration: Submarine Volcanoes and Life each winter with the goal of sharing cutting-edge technologies that are currently being used and developed to explore and interact with the oceans in new ways.
I am also a co-author on the 414 page book "Discoverying the Deep: A Photographic Atlas of the Seafloor and Oceanic Crust", which includes hundreds of high resolution images of the seafloor, underwater volcanoes, hot springs and the amazing life that they host.
