Seafloor observatories

Several boreholes drilled into the oceanic crust an the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge have been fitted with specialized equipment called a Circulation Obviation Retrofit Kit (CORK). Instruments suspended within a steel casing are measuring parameters within the crustal aquifer like temperature and pressure, and microbial experiments capture microbes living within the crust. The temperature of the fluids circulating in the crust are quite warm at the JdFR, and can reach ~ 65 degrees C. Enrichments of crustal bacteria from multi-year incubations indicate these organisms may be performing chemosynthesis using energy released during water-rock reactions. These organisms are also similar to the earliest life on Earth, and can help us predict if life may be present on other worlds in our Solar System.