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Virtual Deep Sea

3D-dive to the sea floor

Film, information on tablets and a dive over the ocean bed - visitors get to know the ocean floor better. Photo: MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, U. Prange
Film, information on tablets and a dive over the ocean bed - visitors get to know the ocean floor better. Photo: MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, U. Prange

The ocean bed is characterized by a variety of underwater landscapes that include cold-water coral mounds, black smokers and mud volcanoes. This fascinating world, however, cannot be observed by satellites or even from research ships. The hidden deep-sea panoramas are only revealed to those who dive. MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen gives interested visitors the opportunity to virtually dive into the unique world of the deep sea.

 

With 3D glasses the visitors move through virtual underwater landscapes in the deep sea. The animation is based on high-resolution maps of the sea bed. These are created using a special automated submersible vehicle that travels above the ocean floor following a grid pattern and measures the bottom topography using sound waves. At water depths of up to 5,000 meters, features as small as a few decimeters are visible. Worldwide, these kinds of measurements are presently available only in a few ocean regions.

Such data provide the starting point for planning expeditions by German and international research teams that routinely discover completely new and unknown phenomena. How does volcanism change the sea floor? Where are gases or liquids escaping from the sea bottom? What kinds of environments are colonized by cold-water corals? What do deep-sea organisms feed on? These are just a few of the questions addressed by scientists at MARUM. High-resolution maps of the ocean floor play an essential role in answering them.

“Presentation of these datasets in a virtual reality structure helps to impress upon our visitors that information about the nature of the sea-floor and even the topography of the sea floor cannot be taken for granted, even today,” explains Prof. Dr. Michael Schulz, Director of MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen.

After their dive the visitors receive supplementary information at tablet stations that expands on the three scenarios shown. At the deep-sea diorama they learn about the technologies at MARUM that are deployed to research the ocean floor in the deep sea and that facilitate its protection.

The project “Dem Meer auf den Grund gehen” (The Ocean in Depth) is supported by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research within the framework of the Science Year 2016*17 – Seas and Oceans.

 

Current dates:

The module is currently being refurbished. 

 

Past dates: 

10.07. -
15.07.2017
Tempelhofer Hafen, Berlin 
19.07. -
30.07.2017
Umwelt- und Erlebnisausstellung LEBENSWELTEN, Waschkaue am Erlebnisort Reden, Schiffweiler

02.08 -
05.08.2017

Müller Galerie, Reutlingen

10.08. - 26.08.2017   

Citti-Park, Kiel

26.08. - 27.08.2017

Tag der offenen Tür der Bundesregierung, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Berlin

11.09. - 16.09.2017

Zentrum Schöneweide

20.09. - 23.09.2017

Löhr Center Koblenz

23.09. - 24.09.2017

Maritime Woche, Forschermeile an der Schlachte, Bremen

25.09. - 30.09.2017

MyZeil, Frankfurt

2.10. -
7.10.2017

Zwickau Arcaden
9.10. - 14.10.2017 Plauen Park
19.10. - 4.11.2017 Rhein-Ruhr-Zentrum, Mülheim an der Ruhr
6.11. - 17.11.2017 Kaiserpassage, Bonn, Programmteil zur internationalen Klimakonferenz COP 23

 

Visitors look at the deep-sea diorama, which is part of the VR module. Photo: MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, U. Prange
Visitors look at the deep-sea diorama, which is part of the VR module. Photo: MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, U. Prange
Logo des Wissenschaftsjahrs 2016*2017 Meere und Ozeane

Science Year 2016*17 – Seas and Oceans

Marine research is the theme of the Science Year 2016*2017. Oceans and seas cover 71 per cent of our planet. They are climate drivers, food sources, economic zones, and they offer a living habitat for many plants and animals. Scientists have been studying the oceans for centuries, but these realms are still largely unstudied and they do not give up their secrets easily. The essence of the Science Year 2016*17 – Seas and Oceans, is to understand these bodies of water and work toward their protection and sustainable use. The Science Years are an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education (BMBF – Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) in cooperation with Science in Dialog (WiD - Wissenschaft im Dialog). As a primary instrument of science communication, they bring research before the public eye. The Science Year 2016*17 is under the purview of the Consortium of German Marine Research (KDM – Konsortium Deutsche Meeresforschung) as technical partner.

 Dive into the deep sea at the shopping center. Photo: MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen
Dive into the deep sea at the shopping center. Photo: MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen