Quote:An international research team is expected to leave July 1 from the Arctic archipelago of Svalboard aboard an icebreaker on a 40-day journey see if the Gakkel Ridge -- a hydrothermal vent system near the North Pole --could harbor never-seen-before life forms that have remained isolated for tens of millions of years.

"This is an exciting opportunity to explore and study a portion of Earth's surface that has been largely inaccessible to science," said expedition chief scientist Robert Reves-Sohn, a geophysicist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts.

The Gakkel Ridge is part of the mid-ocean ridge system, which transects the globe like seams on a baseball. Ocean ridges are like underwater mountains and occur between Earth's tectonic plates that slip apart as fiery hot fluid full of minerals spews through the gap. For the organisms that can tolerate the heat, zero sunlight and bizarre diet, it's an oasis.

"The region has been mostly separated from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans for millions of years, so whatever lives there has since been evolving in relative isolation — much the way animals in Australia did," said expedition scientist Tim Shank, a hydrothermal vent biologist at WHOI. "We are likely to find completely new suites of species with never-before seen adaptations."

The Gakkel Ridge spreads one-third of an inch annually, 20 times slower than other ridges. The slow pace results in a unique vent system, the scientists say, because material deep in Earth's mantle (below the crust) gets exposed on the seafloor.

That means the vent fluid will have a different chemical make-up from other hydrothermal vents, which, when combined with eons of isolation, means the region could support life forms similar to those of primordial Earth or other watery planets.

A trio of robotic underwater vehicles, named Puma, Jaguar and Camper, will be the noses, eyes and hands of the researchers, diving 1.8 to 3 miles beneath the ice cap where the ridge lies. The autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) were developed specifically for the Arctic.

First, the Puma will pinpoint any hydrothermal vents by sniffing out the chemical and temperature signals. Second, the Jaguar will image that portion of the seafloor. Finally, the Camper will scoop up rocks, sediments, and any living creatures.