BICOSE cruise underway

A multidisciplinary team of marine scientists from Ifremer, UPMC and MNHM have set sail aboard the French research vessel RV Pourquoi Pas? to explore deep-sea life at specific study areas along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The BICOSE cruise will run from 10 January to 11 February 2014 and will visit sites known as the Snake Pit and TAG, where the scientific team will work to characterise the very specialised habitats around hydrothermal vents, describe the biodiversity found there and understand life cycles and larval dispersal. The two sites have been specifically chosen so that the ecosystem and habitats at a young, active hydrothermal vent site (such as that at Snake Pit, which is thought to be less than 4,000 years old) can be compared to that found at a much more mature site such as TAG, which is estimated to be more than 40,000 years old. For more information, please see the BICOSE mission blog and website (in French)