ภาพจุลินทรีย์ใต้ทะเลลึก

Microscopic image of a group of multi-celled methane-oxidizing microbes found in deep-sea methane seeps in Hydrate Ridge, Oregon. (S. McGlynn, Caltech)

Microscopic image of methane-oxidizing microbes recovered from deep-sea methane seep sediments.   Methane-oxidizing Archaea are stained with DNA probe in green, associated symbiotic bacteria are stained in blue.  The orange-yellow materials are sediment particles.  (S. McGlynn, Caltech)

Using the manipulator arm of the submersible Alvin to collect carbonate and associated animals from an active methane seep off the coast of Costa Rica.  (L. Levin, SIO)

Manipulator arm of Alvin submersible collecting piece of carbonate from the ledge of the methane seep, Costa Rica Margin, 1,000 meters deep. (V. Orphan)

Carbonate slab collected from Costa Rica Margin seep, with associated worms, snails and limpets.  (G. Rouse)

A piece of deep-sea carbonate ledge in the manipulator claw with attached white sulfide oxidizing bacterial filaments and anemone, from the Eel River Basin, off the California coast, 550 meters deep. (V. Orphan)

Submersible Alvin about to be launched from the back deck of the R/V Atlantis, Costa Rica Margin. (V. Orphan)

View of R/V Atlantis ship from inside Alvin after a successful dive to the methane seeps off of Hydrate Ridge, Oregon.  (V. Orphan)

Sponges colonizing carbonates from a dormant methane seep site, Eel River Basin, California. (V. Orphan)

View from inside Alvin of carbonate pavement and boulders in an area of methane seepage from Hydrate Ridge, Oregon, 700 meters deep. (V. Orphan)

Mussels nestled within exposed carbonate mound in an active methane seep. Costa Rica Margin, 1,000 meter water depth. (V. Orphan)

California Institute of Technology geobiology class on a field trip to a paleo-methane seep outcrop in Panoche Hills, California.  These ancient seep carbonates are Cretaceous-aged (~100-66 million years ago),  extend nearly 20 kilometers and are approximately 200 meters thick in some areas. (V. Orphan)