Hydrothermal vent bio-sampler

On the bottom of the oceans with volcanic activity present, hydrothermal vents can be found which spew out mineral rich superheated water from the porous seafloor crust. Life thrives here on the minerals and chemical compounds that the vent water brings up. This chemosynthetic microbial community forms the basis of some of the most interesting ecosystems on our planet and could possibly also be found on other water rich bodies in the solar system. The Hydrothermal Vent Biosampler (HVB) is a system which will be used to collect pristine samples of the water emanating from the hydrothermal vents. An array of sensors will monitor the sampling conditions. This will allow for the samples to be collected from defined locations within the plume, and the diversity and distribution of the chemosynthetic communities that might live there can be accurately described. The system will be using a series of filters, down to 0.2 μm in pore size, and the samples can be directly collected from the system for both culture- and molecular-based biological analyses. The HVB is designed to operate under the extreme conditions by the hydrothermal vents at depths down to 7000 meters and temperatures of up to 400°C.