WP1 Organisation

It involves Ifremer and 5 partners, UBO, Sorbonne University, CNRS, IRD and MNHN and will run for 6 years until 2029.

It is part of the continuity of our work on the description and understanding of deep-sea ecosystems, mainly in the hydrothermal context, but we are going to change scale by integrating new approaches, among others by linking experimental approaches and social sciences. Biodiversity of TAG hydrothermal site

In the absence of light and therefore without photosynthesis, the primary producers, which are normally plants on the surface, are replaced by microbial communities that develop thanks to the chemical energy of the elements contained in hydrothermal fluids.

What are the objectives of LIFEDEEPER?

The project combines science and policy support. The area studied is the one for which Ifremer holds the French deep-sea exploration contract with the International Seabed Authority (ISA). It is a very specific area of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at a depth of 3,600 metres at the level of, among others, the TAG and Snake Pit hydrothermal fields, 300 km apart, for which the first BICOSE campaign in 2014 made it possible to draw up a "road map".

The aim is to understand the geological, geochemical and biological functioning of the ecosystems in this area. The aim is to obtain new markers or determining parameters to monitor and verify their good ecological status. Only this knowledge will make it possible to propose solutions for the sustainable management and protection of this common good.

At present, we do not know what impact the exploitation of mineral resources could have on the deep sea. What would be the consequences of noise, light, vibrations, etc.? These ecosystems are intertwined with other ecosystems, from the bottom to the surface, and therefore play a role in the ocean and, more globally, on the planet.

LIFEDEEPER also includes a strong social science component with the IRD and the Joint Research Unit (UMR) AMURE, in order to develop a legal and political analysis of international regulatory regimes, and a sociological analysis of science-technology-society in order to understand how science and its results are shared, understood and interpreted. LIFEDEEPER also includes a communication component and our objective is to enhance the value of scientific results and to raise awareness among a wide audience: schoolchildren, students, citizens, decision-makers, etc. Our ambition is to get into school textbooks and into the political arenas where the future of the planet is debated!