The oceans are a handy "sink" for man-made carbon dioxide in counteracting global warming, but more research is needed into the impact of such disposal at deep-sea level.
Such is the view of Californian scientists who are attending an international conference at NUI Galway this week. Dr Mario Tamburri, of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California, has expressed concern about the dearth of research into the potential biological impacts, even as technologies for industrial-scale capture and transport of the gas to the deep ocean develop apace.
He and his colleague, Dr James Barry, are part of a team using remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) to conduct the first direct experiments on the responses of deep-sea organisms to CO 2 in solid, liquid and enriched seawater form. Preliminary results of these tests will be presented by Dr Tamburri at the 7th International Deep Sea Biology Symposium, which opens today in NUI, Galway.
Among the participants will be the "father figure" of deep-sea research: 80-year-old Torben Wolff of the 1950-52 Galathea expedition - the first modern deep-sea voyage, and one which circumnavigated the globe. He will show footage of the trip, including clips of the US biologist, Claude Zobell, who used to work on deck with buckets of samples while holding test tubes between his toes.
For Dr John Patching of the university's Martin Ryan Marine Science Institute - who admits Wolff is his absolute idol - it represents the culmination of much lobbying. "Deep-sea researchers are a hard lot to gather together, mainly because a lot of us spend most of our time offshore."
Even since the last gathering in the US in 1997, technology has "come on leaps and bounds", Dr Patching notes. "Deep-sea diving has replaced space exploration as a flag-waving exercise by some nations, and remote submersibles are being used increasingly to glean new information."
Dr Patching's own contribution will be presented by a PhD student, Mr Donal Eardly, who will describe the institute's work on molecular biological techniques. The ability to sample genes directly from the environment, without prior cultivation of organisms, had led to new insights into the diversity of marine microbes.
"We began looking on the `normal' deep-sea bed," Dr Patching said. "Recently we've been studying carbonate mounds using DNA work, and the possibility of making artificial chromosomes in the bacterium."
Among the themes at the symposium are discussions of the technology for deep-sea research, such as the Lander platform which can operate independently of surface vessels and "multiply" ship time by a factor of 500 per cent, and the results of surveys already being carried out throughout the world.
SEVERAL speakers will also address the need for protected areas in the world's deep ocean waters. This environmental dimension, and the impact of Greenpeace's successful legal action against Britain last year on protection of deep-sea areas, was discussed in Galway last week at the Atlantic Coral Ecosystem Study (ACES) workshop hosted by Dr Anthony Grehan.
As Dr Grehan pointed out, the term "coastal zone management" is a familiar one for the inshore and shoreline zone, but no such concept exists for deeper water. He has already called for management and conservation measures to protect the coral reefs discovered off Ireland's Atlantic margin, before oil and gas exploration teams move into the area.
The discovery off our coasts of both coral and carbonate mounds places Ireland in a unique position in relation to deep-sea research. Exploitation of deeper waters for fishing, mineral extraction or dumping offered commercial opportunities, Dr Patching noted.
However, it also required an understanding of the deep ecosystem to facilitate balanced development. A State-funded ROV - acquired for and run by the Naval Service - would be invaluable in terms of furthering this research, he said.
Such technology would make a major contribution to the State's £21 million seabed survey, announced last year. The survey is being conducted over seven years by the Geological Survey of Ireland with the Marine Institute, and is due to begin this summer. Oil and gas exploration companies are top of the "interested party" list, followed by fishery, dredging and windfarm interests.
This has aroused fears among scientists that the exercise will focus on geological mapping for mineral exploitation - with a few statistics about cetacean and seabird populations thrown in to keep the public happy.
Multi-beam eco-sounding systems will be among the instruments applied in the survey, which will comprise a series of cruises across the Irish seabed on contracted survey and research vessels. They provide high-quality sonar maps relating to major structures and sedimentary features, and can generate a topographic map illustrating wide swathes of the seabed.
The Marine Institute is due to tender for a new 65-metre research vessel which will be built by 2002, when the survey work should already be underway.