The main goal of our work during this reporting period (August 23, 2002 -August 23, 2003 was to conduct an experimental cruise at the Loihi Seamount in the Hawaiian Islands. The work included preparation for the cruise, conducting the survey cruise, and analyzing the results. The cruise took place from December 3-13, 2002.3 Table of Executive SummaryAfter the permit to conduct a field experiment in Norway was revoked on August 22, 2002, we started executing our contingency plan to conduct a cruise at the Loihi Seamount in Hawaii in December 2002. After a few intense months of preparation, the cruise took place on December 3-13, 2002. In total, eight dives were made with the Pisces V submarine. The primary goal of the experiment was to assess the effect of CO 2 on marine organisms. Studies were done using scavenger traps, as well as collecting water samples and surveying the natural CO 2 plume at the Loihi Seamount.This report documents the experiment in more detail as summarized by the various participants. The data was still being analyzed at the end of this reporting period, so no results are reported here. Both papers and a video on the experiment are being prepared. Some related modeling work is presented in an Appendix in the form of a paper submitted to the Journal of Marine Environmental Engineering. ExperimentalFrom December 3-13, 2002, scientists from three countries representing the Technical Committee of the International Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Experiment examined the hydrothermal venting at Loihi Seamount (Hawaiian Islands, USA). Work focused on tracing the venting gases, the impacts of the vent fluids on marine organisms and their influence on biogeochemical cycles. The cruise on the R/V Ka'imikai-O-Kanaloa (KOK) included 8 dives of the Pisces V submarine, 6 at Loihi and 2 at a nearby site in the lee of the Big Island (Hawaii). Data gathered during the cruise will be published in peer-reviewed journals and will form the basis of grant proposals for future work at Loihi.On the first dive two scavenger traps and two bait parcels (4 whole mackerel) were deployed, the vent fields were surveyed and water samples and real time CTD data including pH were obtained. The vent fields around HURL markers 35 and 37 were identified as likely sites for further work. According to the HURL Operations Manager Terry Kerby, recent changes in venting at Loihi included a near cessation of venting at the "Boiling Pot" site (previously venting at about 90°C), and at the "Jet Vent" site. During our cruise venting at marker 35 was broad and diffuse with temperatures at the seafloor as high as 31°C. Water with pH of 5.7 at 6.3°C was observed at marker 35. The vents at marker 37 were at the base of a cliff and included one large (about 30 cm) opening. The marker 35 vents were identified as the preferred site to expose trapped animals to the plume and the marker 37 site was determined to be best suited for plume surveys because of its more discrete source and proximity to a rock wall that could be used as a refer...

An international research consortium was formed in 1997 to observe the behavior of CO 2 when released into the deep ocean. The Kona coast of Hawaii was selected as the project site. A local opposition group forced unacceptably long permitting delays that ultimately forced the project to move out of Hawaii. The consortium selected Norway as the new site. A permit was easily acquired from the national pollution authority in January 2002. A member of Norway's opposition party raised concerns about the experiment in Parliament. The Ministry of Environment responded by reopening the permitting process and requiring public hearings during June. The pollution authority reissued the permit in July ruling the opposition's arguments were not compelling. The Minister of Environment, Børge Brende, revoked the permit in a surprise ruling on August 22 nd 2002.

The objective during this reporting period was to begin a two-year sub-task to update an assessment of environmental impacts from direct ocean sequestration. The approach is based on the work of Auerbach et al. (1997) and Caulfield et al. (1997) to assess acute impacts, but uses updated information concerning injection scenarios and bioassays.4