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Participant Interview:
June-July 2000
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NeMO Date: July 3, 2000
Ship's Location: 45 56.0'N/129 58.6'W

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Participant Interview:
Jean Marcus
Graduate Student in Biology
University of Victoria

Jeff: What research are you conducting at Axial Volcano?
Jean: I want to get a general picture of what low temperature tubeworm assemblages look like at Axial Volcano and observe how the 1998 eruption assemblages are changing. To do this, I have two study sites. One is at a vent field called Ashes. The other is vents at the 1998 Axial eruption.

Ashes has been consistently venting for at least 15 years so it's considered a stable vent field. I'm investigating if the species in the tubeworm assemblages at Ashes are distributed in a patterned way. If so, they probably have similar habitat requirements. After some preliminary studies it looks like all the assemblages are quite similar because the same species (limpets and a few species of worms) are always abundant in each tubeworm area.

Seven months after the 1998 Axial eruption, we arrived for sampling from the new vents created in the eruption. At that time, only a couple of vents supported tube worms. Therefore, Ashes and the lava flow were very different. We're predicting that over time the vents at the 1998 eruption are going to mature (contain lots of tube worms), like the ones we see at Ashes.

Jeff: How tall are the largest tubeworms you've studied?
Jean: I've seen tubeworms about 6 ft.tall up at the Endeavour Segment on the northern part of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. The tallest tubeworms probably reach heights of six to seven feet.

Jeff: What's the most interesting part of your research? Jean: From beginning to end, I just love coming out to sea. I spend 11 months of the year staring down a microscope and sorting preserved animals. It's amazing to come out here and see them alive and to be part of the whole sampling process. Also, finding new species is always cool. We found two new species of worms on the Juan de Fuca Ridge.

 

 

Jean Marcus holding a collection jar from the suction sampler used on ROPOS.