PREFACE 



The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office 

 of Undersea Research supports in-situ research utilizing a 

 variety of systems including manned submersibles, saturation 

 habitats, remotely operated vehicles (ROV's) and scuba. There 

 are currently five National Undersea Research Centers ( NURC ' s ) 

 that operate on grants from NOAA to universities and private 

 research centers. These centers are located at the Caribbean 

 Marine Research Center in the Bahamas, the University of 

 Connecticut at Avery Point, Fairleigh Dickinson University's West 

 Indies Laboratory, the University of Hawaii, and the University 

 of North Carolina at Wilmington. 



NOAA's Office of Undersea Research provides facilities for 

 scientists to conduct research supporting NOAA's mission 

 objectives in the areas of: global oceanic processes, pathways 

 and fate of materials in the ocean and Great Lakes, coastal 

 oceanic and estuarine processes, ocean lithosphere and mineral 

 resources, biological productivity and living resources, ocean 

 technology, and diving safety and physiology. 



The series of papers presented in this volume are the result 

 of an Undersea Science Symposium held at the National Undersea 

 Research Center at the University of Connecticut at Avery Point 

 on October 21-23, 1987. The symposium addressed four major 

 research themes that fall under NOAA's research mission 

 including: marine resources in the Gulf of Maine, global vent 

 processes, deep-water ecology, and ocean technology/biological 

 productivity. This volume addresses research on global vent 

 processes and benthic ecology. A companion volume (National 

 Undersea Research Program Research Report 88-3) presents the 

 remaining papers. In many cases, the papers presented herein 

 represent a report to the Office of Undersea Research on 

 preliminary results of funded research and should not preclude 

 publication in peer-reviewed journals. 



Michael P. De Luca Ivar G. Babb 



Program Scientist Science Coordinator 



Office of Undersea Research Gulf of Maine 



NOAA National Undersea Research Center 



6010 Executive Boulevard University of Connecticut at 



Suite 805 Avery Point 



Rockville, MD 20852 Groton, CT 06340 



VII 



