A team of international scientists and engineers will travel to the Arctic Ocean in order to conduct the first search for life on the seafloor of the world’s most isolated ocean.

The expedition, which includes scientists and engineers from the United States, Norway, Germany, Japan, and Sweden, will use new robotic vehicles designed by the researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

They have built two new autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and a new tethered, remote controlled sampling system specifically for the difficult challenges of operations in the Arctic ice.

The research team will depart on July 1 from Longyearbyen, Svalbard and the goal is to explore Gakkel Ridge, the extension of the mid-ocean ridge system which separates the North American tectonic plate from the Eurasian plate beneath the Arctic Ocean.

“This is an exciting opportunity to explore and study a portion of Earth’s surface that has been largely inaccessible to science,” said WHOI geophysicist Robert Reves-Sohn who will serve as chief scientist. “Any biological habitats at hydrothermal vent fields along the Gakkel Ridge have likely evolved in isolation for tens of millions of years. We may have the opportunity to lay eyes on completely new life forms that have been living in the abyss beneath the Arctic ice pack.”

The WHOI researchers decided to develop three new vehicles from scratch because those used normally to study deep sea environments cannot be safely operated in the Arctic ice.

The Puma AUV will be used to discover hot, mineral-rich fluids venting out of the ocean floor and the Jaguar AUV, which will use cameras and bottom-mapping sonar systems to image the seafloor. Finally, the CAMPER towed vehicle will be lowered to the seafloor to scoop or vacuum up rocks, sediments, and living creatures.

“Anyone can deploy an AUV in the Arctic; the trick is getting it back,” said Singh the vehicle developer. The vehicles will be sent to the seafloor for 10 to 24 hours at a time during the Gakkel expedition. “In order to have a good day with autonomous vehicles, the number of recoveries must equal the number of launches.” he added.

According to scientists Gakkel Ridge may harbor life forms and environmental conditions consistent with primordial Earth or other watery planets.