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Life in the Extreme Environment of Mohn's Ridge

Christine Kirch, ARMADA Master Teacher
Jessica Braumann, ARMADA Mentee

Print Resources
  • Broad, William. 1997. The Universe Below. New Your, NY: Simon and Schuster- A Touchtone Book. 432 p.
    This book is a must read to the history of Deep Sea Exploration. In fact at the end of the book there is a timeline called: Chronology of Deep Exploration." There is also a glossary of terms that includes many of the acronyms used by the government. Mr. Broad also visits many vent sites and deep sea sites and uses many great illustrations to highlight the life there. A good read for information about the newest ecosystem on Earth.
  • Cramer, Deborah. 2001. Great Waters. New York, NY: WW Norton & Company. 442 p.
    Ms. Cramer takes a sailing trip from Woods Hole to Barbados. She treats the Atlantic as a living, breathing entity that must be cared for.
  • Ellis, Richard. 1996. Deep Atlantic-Life, Death, and Exploration in the Abyss. New York, NY: The Lyons Press. 395 p.
    This popular marine author uses his writing skills and drawing ability to introduce the general public to the history and biology of the deep-sea ecosystems.
  • Hoyt, Erich. 2001. Creatures of the Deep. Willowdale, Ontario Canada: Firefly Books. 160 p.
    This author uses great pictures to link surface biology to the mid-depths to the deep. He also has a chapter on sharks which is a hook for most readers. A good primer to grasp the oceanic ecosystem.
  • Koslow, Tony. 2007. The Silent Deep-The Discovery, Ecology, and Conservation of the Deep Sea. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. 270 p.
    A new book that does the history and biology of the deep as many books do but introduces the concepts of ecology and conservation. We the advances of technology and as a result more focus on the deep for resources we must also care for this ecosystem.
  • Linden, Eugene. 2002. The Octopus and the Orangutan, new tales of animal intrigue, intelligence and Ingenuity. New York, NY: Penguin Group; Plume Book. 242 p.
    This past summer I was in the Arctic Ocean on the G.O. Sars over 900 feet of water when the ROV was deployed. It took fabulous pictures of a "Dumbo" octopus. I was so fascinated by those pictures that I bought this book. Octopus's are very intelligent creatures, as are many others on this Earth.
  • Nouvian, Claire. 2007. The Deep. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. 256 p.
    This book contains the most pictures of creatures of the deep than any other I have seen. This abyss is certainly not the void that we once thought it was. Plus, David Shale who took many of the deep sea pictures was on the GO Sars this summer. There is such beauty in this book that everyone should have one on their "coffee table." It is so cool!
  • Rice, Tony. 2000. Deep Ocean. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. 96 p.
    Although this book is titled Deep Ocean it actually has information about the ocean from surface to bottom. The book also discusses the history of oceanography. The book is filled with lots of great pictures. A good introductory book to the study of the ocean.
  • Van Dover, Cindy Lee. 1996. The Octopus's Garden. Reading, MA: Helix Books; Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. 183 p.
    Cindy Lee Van Dover was the first female Alvin pilot. The book has a chapter on this accomplishment and a chapter on Alvin. The rest of the book is mainly devoted to vents and is a good introduction to the biology of the vents.
  • Van Dover, Cindy Lee. 2000. The Ecology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 424 p.
    This book is almost a text book on vents. It is very scientific and not for the general reader as she uses a lot of vent research in this book. The plus of this book is that it has an appendix of all the hydrothermal vents that were discovered up to 2000. I will use this information in my classes.
Web Resources Audio/Visual Resources
  • Aliens of the Deep. Walt Disney Pictures and Walden media. 2005.
    James Cameron directs this video. Two types of submersibles are used as well as an ROV to explore the Lost City vent field. This DVD also explains that the technology and information that we are using in deep-sea exploration may take us to Mars and Europa.
  • Blue Planet. Video. BBC. 2001
    Narrated by David Attenborough. This is a four set video that takes you all over the oceans. This set covers many of the ecosystems in the oceans. There is a lot of fabulous photography from blue whales to strange creatures of the deep.
  • Planet Earth. Video. BBC. 2007
    Narrated by David Attenborough. This is a five set DVD that takes you from the highest mountains to the deep sea. The Deep Sea video and the Shallow Sea DVD were of interest to me. The photography is breath taking.
  • Volcanoes of the Deep Sea. Image Entertainment. 2003
    This video was originally made for IMAX theatres with James Cameron directing. This video has great footage of vent ecosystems while scientists search for a living fossil. Alvin was used so there is a lot of good submersible coverage.