Members of the D’Hondt lab lead and participate in expeditions throughout the world. The shipboard (and post-expedition) science parties for all of these projects include scientists from all career levels (undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs and senior scientists) and from throughout the world. Some of these expeditions are briefly described below.
UNOLS coring trial expeditions (Northwestern Atlantic and eastern Pacific)
Graduate students Mary Dzaugis and Justine Sauvage, Geobiology Lab manager Dennis Graham, and postdoc Gustavo Ramirez are participating as shipboard scientists on UNOLS (University-National Laboratory Oceanographic System) coring trial expeditions of the RV Endeavor (2016), RV Sally Ride (2017) and RV Neil Armstrong (2017), which are respectively operated by URI, Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Our long-time collaborator Robert Pockalny (URI) will be chief scientist for the Armstrong expedition. The coring trials are providing important opportunities to take samples for (i) developing and refining our microbiological techniques and (ii) collaborative experiments with Steven Finkel and his research group at USC.
Nankai Trough (Japan)
URI graduate students Justine Sauvage and Kira Homola, and URI professor Arthur Spivack, participated as shipboard scientists on Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) expedition 370, in the Nankai Trough near Japan (Sept-Nov 2016). Using the riser-drilling system of the drillship Chikyu, Expedition 337 sought the temperature limit of subseafloor sedimentary life. The expedition was led by shipboard co-chief scientists Fumio Inagaki and Verena Heuer, as well as shore-based co-chief scientist Yuki Morono.
Eastern Indian Ocean
Post-doctoral scholar John Kirkpatrick participated as a shipboard scientist on Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) expedition 353, in the eastern Indian Ocean (Nov 2014-Jan 2015). The main goal of this expedition is to understand how the Indian monsoon evolved over the last several tens of millions of years. John sailed to sample and study the subseafloor ecosystems in this region, with a particular focus on sulfate-reducing ammonia oxidation. This expedition, on the drillship JOIDES Resolution, is based on IODP proposal 795-Full2 (click here). The expedition was led by Steven Clemens and Wolfgang Kuhnt.
North Atlantic
The principal objective of our Oct-Dec 2014 North Atlantic long-coring expedition was to use sedimentary porewater composition to quantify salinity, density and preformed nitrate content of the North Atlantic Ocean during the Last Glacial Maximum. Secondary objectives were to (i) test our hypothesis that dissolved oxygen penetrates from seafloor to basement in slowly accumulating North Atlantic sediment sequences, and (ii) sample and study the ecosystems of both oxic and anoxic subseafloor sediment sequences in the North Atlantic. The principal investigators for the project are Arthur Spivack, Robert Pockalny and D’Hondt. The expedition’s chief scientist was our long-time collaborator Richard W Murray (Boston University). Graduate students Mary Dzaugis, Zak Kerrigan, Justine Sauvage and lab manager Dennis Graham participated as shipboard scientists. The expedition was sponsored by the Marine Geology and Geophysics Program of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). This was the final scientific expedition of the RV Knorr (operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution).
Shimokita Peninsula (Japan)
Graduate student Justine Sauvage participated as a shipboard scientist on Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) expedition 337, near the Shimokita Peninsula of Japan (July-Sept 2012). Using the riser-drilling system of the drillship Chikyu, Expedition 337 explored microbial communities and activities associated with coal beds buried more than 2,000 meters beneath the seafloor. The expedition was led by Fumio Inagaki and Kai-Uwe Hinrichs.
Northwest Atlantic
D’Hondt and two URI collaborators (David Smith, Dennis Graham) participated in the shakedown expedition of the Schmidt Ocean Institute’ Research Vessel Falkor in July 2012 (Nuuk, Greenland, to Woods Hole, Massachusetts). During the expedition, we worked with the Falkor’s Science Technicians to sample the water column and take a continuous record of standard oceanographic measurements from the sea surface to just above the seafloor (up to 5125 meters below sea surface). These samples and data will be used to map marine microbial diversity throughout the water column of the Northwest Atlantic.
South Pacific Gyre
IODP Expedition 329 was an Oct-Dec 2010 cruise to the heart of the South Pacific Gyre, where we are examining the nature of life in the deepest sediment and underlying basalt in one of Earth’s most ancient and food-limited subseafloor regions. This expedition, on the drillship JOIDES Resolution, is based on IODP proposal 662-Full3 (click here). It was the second ocean drilling expedition dedicated to study of subsurface life. D’Hondt co-led the expedition with Fumio Inagaki.
We surveyed this region with the Research Vessel Roger Revelle on a Dec 2006-Jan 2007 expedition to identify appropriate drilling sites and refine scientific objectives for the drilling cruise. This expedition was led by D’Hondt and sponsored by the NSF Ocean Drilling program. You can get one scientist’s perspective of life on this expedition by visiting Bill Griffith’s journal (click here). Bill is a high-school teacher whose participation in the expedition was sponsored by the ARMADA program.
Bering Sea
Graduate students Heather Schrum and Emily Walsh participated as shipboard scientists on the JOIDES Resolution for IODP expedition 323 in the Bering Sea (July-Sept 2009). Their objective (and that of our collaborators Nils Risgaard-Petersen and Laura Wehrmann) was to study the nature of subseafloor sedimentary life in one of the most productive regions of the world ocean. The expedition was led by Kozo Takahashi and Christina Ravelo. The expedition’s primary objective was to understand the Plio-Pleistocene evolution of this Arctic gateway region.
Equatorial Pacific
The principal objectives of our Jan-Feb 2009 expedition to the equatorial Pacific and the North Pacific gyre were (i) to refine and test our global models of microbial activity and biomass in subseafloor sediment, and (ii) determine biological and biogeochemical relationships between microbial communities in the sediment and those in the overlying ocean. This expedition, led by D’Hondt, was the first scientific project to use the new U.S. long-coring facility developed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and operated on the Research Vessel Knorr. We used standard oceanographic instruments (CTD, Niskin samplers) to profile the physical, chemical and biological structure of the water column and to take extensive samples for molecular analysis of microbial community composition. The expedition was sponsored by the Biological Oceanography program of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).
For a detailed look at this expedition, visit Cheryl Manning’s expedition journal (click here). Cheryl is a Colorado high-school teacher who was a shipboard scientist on the expedition. Her participation was sponsored by the NSF-supported ARMADA program (part of the Office of Marine Programs at the URI Graduate School of Oceanography).
Peru Margin
Another major expedition was eastern Pacific Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 201 (Jan-Mar 2002). Leg 201, led by D’Hondt and Bo Barker Jørgensen, was the first ocean drilling expedition dedicated to study of subsurface life. Scientific results of this JOIDES Resolution expedition have been published in many peer-reviewed articles, the ODP Leg 201 Initial Reports (click here) and the ODP Leg 201 Scientific Results volume (click here).
Rhode Island
We also take advantage of the field opportunities afforded by marine environments throughout Narragansett Bay.
In all of these projects, we collaborate closely with other faculty, students and staff from URI and other institutions.