NASA has just decided that a new Europa mission should be launched as one of the three highest priorities of the next few years. The focus will include determining the nature and life-support capability of systems beneath the Europan ice cover which will lead into an interest in submarine hydrothermal environments. The 1999 seagoing submarine expeditions you are to embark on regroup several funded research programs initiated at the University of Washington , at the Universities of Quebec at Montreal, Victoria and Toronto and at the Pennsylvania State University . This combination of multidisciplinary programs mirrors the scientific approach to understand submarine volcanic systems as planetary systems in which geological, physical and biological processes constantly interact with each other. This collaboration reflects the dedication of the research community and the funding agencies to bridge the gap between research and sceince education at all levels.
All personnel involved is indispensable to the successful outcome of such a project.
The first research program, led by Dr. J. Delaney and Dr. K. Juniper, is the continuation of several ongoing collaborative projects initiated by scientists at the University of Washington and Canada. There are two major goals for this program. The University of Washington team will continue to monitor the geological, physical, microbiological and chemical parameters associated with the regrowth of large sulfide edifices that were sampled in the summer of 1998. These edifices, also called sulfide structures, are tall, large mounds made of pyrite and other iron and copper sulfide and sulfate minerals that stand on lava flows that form the ocean floor. The growth of these submarine sulfide structures relates directly to such diverse processes as heat loss from the interior of the earth, the origin and evolution of life on earth, the existence of a deep microbial biosphere supported by submarine volcanism, the chemistry of the world oceans and the formation of base and precious metal deposits through geologic time.