Exploring the Arctic Seafloor: Photographs by Chris Linder February 22 —July 6, 2008 Embark on an expedition to the bottom of an ice-covered ocean—thirty photographs and other media take you on an icebreaking ship through the frozen Arctic world, and give you a first-ever look at mysterious undersea mountains near the North Pole. Deep beneath Arctic ice and miles of sunless water lie what are arguably the remotest places on earth: awe-inspiring ranges of unexplored volcanic mountains more foreign than the surface of Mars. But recently, an international team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution set out to plumb the secrets of this Arctic seafloor. Using ingeniously invented robotic divers, the expedition set out for the Gakkel Ridge, parts of which seethe with geysers escaping from beneath the ocean bottom. What strange life forms would the expedition find in such extreme conditions, living off super-heated fluids spurting from beneath the seafloor? Color photographs, a sample of rock from the ocean floor, a computer kiosk, and a 3-D model of underwater mountains portray this expedition's quest, its exploratory equipment, and the extraordinary work of the scientists aboard the ship. This exhibition was created by Chris Linder of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with the collaborative assistance of The Field Museum. Funding for this exhibition was provided by the National Science Foundation and the Richard King Mellon Foundation.