TEMPO: a new ecological module for studying deep-sea community dynamics at hydrothermal vents

The major goal of this project, elaborated in the frame of the STREP Exocet/D European project, was to design a first autonomous long-term imaging module equipped with a deep-sea video camera, adequate lightning and sufficient energy storage while taking advantage of most recent progress in imaging and photonics. The new ecological module TEMPO was tested and deployed during the Momareto cruise held from August 6 to September 6, 2006 on the new French oceanographic vessel Pourquoi pas?, with the ROV Victor 6000. The scientific objectives of the Momareto cruise were to study the spatial and temporal dynamics of hydrothermal communities colonizing the MoMAR zone, located on the Azores Triple Junction.