Alex Hughes is an amphibious tectonic geomorphologist who specializes in characterizing fault activity, landscape evolution, and natural hazards in terrestrial and submarine settings using cutting-edge geospatial, geophysical, and geochemical analyses. During his PhD, he quantified earthquake hazards in southern California and is currently employed as a postdoc at IPGP where he is investigating the extent that earthquakes control the morphology of the ocean-floor. Arc en Sub is its third research cruise onboard the Pourquoi Pas ? He has been assisting with sample collection and processing along with cartography. “I am delighted to have this unique opportunity to explore the alien world that is the seafloor. The marine geology of the Rainbow Massif is quite frankly mind-boggling and untangling aspects of the tectonic and geologic history is an exciting challenge that I’m sure will keep all of us onboard scratching our heads for many years to come!”
Anna Cipriani is a professor of geochemistry and volcanology at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy, where she teaches how chemical elements interact and behave on and in the Earth. Her main expertise is in the use of isotope and elemental geochemistry to investigate the processes of oceanic crust creation and evolution at mid-ocean ridges, by examining mantle and crustal rocks outcropping at the ocean floor and in ophiolitic sequences. She dates marine carbonates and fossils using the principles of strontium isotope stratigraphy. This is her 12th oceanographic cruise and her 2nd on the Pourquoi Pas ? In her first cruise, she dove to 5.5 km below sea level with the Nautile. Arc en Sub is her first mission on active hydrothermal vents. “I am blown away by the beauty and complexity of this hydrothermal system. I am excited to be here and contribute in understanding its foundations”.