Ten o'clock Talk: Secrets of the Deep

Ten o'clock Talk: Secrets of the Deep

10.00am, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 – STAND 508, RED ZONE

The University of Aberdeen at Offshore Europe - Stand 508, Red Zone

(Photo/Interview Opportunity: 10.00am. Details at the end of this release)

Few of us will ever get the chance to watch life on the ocean floor. Marine biologist Professor Monty Priede of Aberdeen University’s new OceanLab facility, the first of its kind in the world, will share the insights of his research team who have developed a fleet of deep sea robots to study life 6000 metres under the sea on Wednesday, September 5, at 10.00am on Stand 508.

Professor Priede and his team are based at the first purpose-built ocean lander laboratory in the world. They have developed a fleet of deep sea robots which carry cameras, sonors and laser holography systems capable of observing animals living as deep as 6000 metres (3.5 miles) below sea level.

Discovering more about the effects of pollution and global warming is one of the research themes for this team of Aberdeen marine scientists from the University.

Professor Priede said: ”The ocean bed is the wastebasket of the world. In terms of the food chain, it is the place where organic matter is removed from the cycle. Deep sea animals are dependent on things falling from above. It is their only source of food.”

Professor Priede said: “Humans are burning fossil fuels, which creates excess carbon dioxide, contributing to the hole in the ozone layer. There is a theory that the earth will look after itself and will adapt to deal with the carbon dioxide.

“By studying the ocean bed we can determine how much carbon dioxide is being removed permanently and how much is recycled and returned to the surface.”

The facility, at the University’s Culterty Field Station, Newburgh, allows engineers and marine scientists to work together to build and test lander equipment using immersion and sea-water investigation tanks, environmental and vibration test rigs, and image analysis suite. The autonomous lander vehicles can go deeper than most manned submarines and stay there much longer sometimes for up to 12 months.

Located close to the centre of the North Sea oil industry, the Oceanlab has direct access to the most sophisticated sub-sea industry suppliers in Europe. It will attract visiting scientists and engineers from all over the world to develop and test experiments to be deployed in international research programmes.

The list of events taking place on Stand 508, University of Aberdeen, throughout the day include:

11.00am Launch of Masters in Hydrocarbon Enterprise

12.30pm Clarissa Dickson Wright

2.00pm The Green Challenge

3.00-6.00pm A Bug’s Life

For further information about the events taking place on Stand 508, University of Aberdeen, during the week of Offshore Europe, please visit the online site at: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/oilgas

Don't forget to pick up your personal copy of our essential guide to Offshore Europe when you visit Stand 508 - or download a copy from: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/oilgas/guide.htm

We look forward to seeing you at Stand 508 in the Red Zone.

Photo Opportunity: Wednesday September 5, 2001, at 10.00am.

Stand 508, Red Zone, University of Aberdeen, Offshore Europe.

Ten o‘clock Talk: Secrets of the Deep.

For further information regarding the photo opportunity or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Angela Begg, Media Relations, University of Aberdeen, on (01224) 272960, or

Leonard Forman, Marketing & Communications, University of Aberdeen (Stand 508).

Further information:

University Press Office on telephone +44 (0)1224-273778 or email a.ramsay@admin.abdn.ac.uk.

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