MBARI researchers are excited to find a dazzling diversity of colorful carpets of deep-sea bacteria

Описание: MBARI’s underwater robots have filmed a dazzling diversity of colorful microbial carpets as we explore the seafloor deep below Monterey Bay and beyond. Chemists, geologists, and microbiologists alike find the sight of these mats exciting. Microbial mats are the earliest life forms on Earth and reveal important information about the deep seafloor and the life that lives there.

Microbial mats, made up of communities of bacteria, thrive where gas-rich fluids (containing methane and sulfide) flow from below the seafloor. These bright mats help scientists hone in on areas to investigate fluid flow, water temperature, and the chemical composition of the water seeping through the mud or rock.

One of MBARI’s fundamental missions is to develop and use sophisticated technology to study the deep ocean. Scientists and engineers work together to build cutting-edge technologies—from remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles to bottom-deployed equipment for long-term monitoring—to study the seafloor’s biological, chemical, and geological processes.

Video credits:
Producer/editor: Kristine Walz
Production team: Kyra Schlining, Susan von Thun, Kristine Walz
Music: Winter Landscape by Auftakt Music

Scenes in order of appearance:
0:00 Large white bacterial mat and red disk jellies (Poralia rufescens) | Santa Monica Basin, California | 863 meters (2,831 feet)
0:15 White and yellow bacterial mat | Barkley Canyon, Washington | 910 meters (2,986 feet)
0:27 Yellow and white bacterial mat | Santa Monica Basin, California | 866 meters (2,841 feet)
0:34 Pillow basalts and yellow bacterial mat | Juan de Fuca Ridge, Oregon and Washington | 1,520 meters (4,987 feet)
0:39 Large white bacterial mat | Santa Monica Basin, California | 866 meters (2,841 feet)
0:49 Pillow basalts and bacterial mat | Juan de Fuca Ridge, Oregon and Washington | 1,520 meters (4,987 feet)
0:58 Filamentous bacterial mat | Santa Monica Basin, California | 645 meters (2,116 feet)
1:04 Bacterial mat on ridge | Santa Monica Basin, California | 804 meters (2,638 feet)
1:14 Bubbling seafloor with bacterial mat | Santa Monica Basin, California | 804 meters (2,638 feet)
1:27 Bubbling seafloor with yellow and white bacterial mat and thornyhead rockfish | Barkley Canyon, Washington | 910 meters (2,986 feet)
1:34 White bacterial mat | San Clemente Basin, California | 1,022 meters (3,353 feet)
1:43 Lava flow with yellow bacterial mat | Juan de Fuca Ridge, Oregon and Washington | 1,642 meters (5,387 feet)
1:53 Collapsed pit with bacterial mat | Santa Monica Basin, California | 795 meters (2,608 feet)
2:01 Thornyhead rockfish (Sebastolobus sp.) with bacterial mats | Barkley Canyon, Washington | 910 meters (2,986 feet)
2:10 Bacterial mat | Gulf of California, Mexico | 1,564 meters (5,131 feet)
2:17 Yellow bacterial mat on lava cave | Juan de Fuca Ridge, Oregon and Washington | 2,007 meters (6,585 feet)
2:24 White bacterial mat on smoking hydrothermal vent chimney | Gulf of California, Mexico | 2,195 meters (7,201 feet)
2:33 White bacterial mat near whale fall, hagfish (Eptatretus sp.) and flatfish | San Clemente Basin, California | 850 meters (2,789 feet)
2:44 Yellow bacterial mat on muddy outcrop | Gulf of California, Mexico | 2,700 meters (8,858 feet)
2:53 Close up of bacterial mats | Juan de Fuca Ridge, Oregon and Washington | 1,636 meters (5,367 feet)
3:01 Bacterial mat with anemones | San Clemente Basin, California | 1,022 meters (3,353 feet)
3:13 Close up of small, yellow bacterial mat | San Clemente Basin, California | 932 meters (3,058 feet)
3:20 Clams and hagfish (Eptatretus sp.) with bacterial mat | San Clemente Basin, California | 1,021 meters (3,350 feet)
3:29 Bacterial mat with red disk jelly (Poralia rufescens) | Santa Monica Basin, California | 863 meters (2,831 feet)