Underwater Raman. This is pretty frickin’ awesome.
mbari_news The Earth’s crust has weak points that allow gases to percolate upwards through the ground toward the seafloor. As gas makes its way toward the seafloor, it comes into contact with water. Under specific circumstances, namely low temperatures and high pressure, the gas and water combine to create gas hydrate. As hydrate forms, it expands, which can cause bulges in the seafloor. The gas that combines with water is usually methane, but there are different forms of hydrate. Researchers use a laser Raman spectrometer to investigate the composition and chemical structure of this gas hydrate deposit, which is exposed on the seafloor in Barkley Canyon (offshore of Victoria, Canada) at a depth of 858 m (2814 ft). By shining a specially tuned laser beam on almost any object or substance–solid, liquid, or gas–a laser Raman spectrometer can determine the object’s chemical composition and molecular structure. MBARI scientists and engineers developed a tool that would allow them to use laser Raman spectrometery in the deep sea, allowing them to study how gases behave in the deep-sea conditions.