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MBARI scientists have departed to their third expedition to the Gulf of California to build on research conducted during expeditions in 2003 and 2012.

They will continue many ongoing investigations in 1,130-kilometer-long (700-mile-long) finger of water that separates the peninsula of Baja California from mainland Mexico.

This will be a two-ship expedition. Seafloor mapping with an autonomous underwater vehicle operating from research vessel Rachel Carson will provide high-resolution bathymetric data. The data will be processed into maps, which will be passed along to science teams aboard research vessel Western Flyer. The high-resolution maps allow the scientists to pinpoint the perfect targets for remotely operated vehicle dives during which they can collect data, samples, and video, and conduct experiments, MBARI said.

The expedition will be made up of several segments, each approximately 11 days long. Each segment will give a different chance of researchers to conduct their work in the area of particular interest for their specialty.

Geologic studies will focus on the dynamics of continental margin tectonics and deep-sea volcanoes. Biological oceanographic studies will focus on variability in upper ocean biological productivity, the influence of low-oxygen and other climate-related changes in ocean conditions on midwater and benthic sea life, chemosynthetic animal communities inhabiting vents and seeps, and biological patterns in the Cabo Pulmo National Park—a study led by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

MBARI’s previous two expeditions to the Gulf of California yielded many intriguing observations, and prompted new scientific questions that MBARI researchers are hoping to answer. The 2015 expedition will add to the legacy of scientific exploration in this unique and remote marine environment, MBARI wrote on the website.