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their carbon content can be stored in the deep ocean and in the underlying seafloor sediments for timescales of well over a century," said study author Victor Smetacek. However, because the fate of bloom biomass could not be adequately resolved in these experiments, the time scales of carbon sequestration from the atmosphere are uncertain, the study notes. Controversy surrounding iron fertilization experiments led to a lengthy evaluation of the institute's experiment results before publication, Smetacek added to explain the eight-year delay between the 2004 fertilization experiment and the results being published in Nature. Team Defines Limits of Microbial Life In an Undersea Volcano Microbiologists reported in August in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the first detailed data about the biological and chemical factors that determine micro- bial community structure and growth rates of a group of methane-exhaling microbes that live deep in the cracks of hot undersea volcanoes. The team used a combination of cultivation, molecu- lar and geochemical tools to verify pure culture hydrogen threshold measurements for hyperthermophilic methano- genesis in low-temperature hydrothermal fluids from the Axial Volcano and Endeavour Segment in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Using the research submarine Alvin, the team collected samples of hydrothermal fluids flowing from black smokers up to 350º C at the study sites. In a 2-liter bioreactor where hydrogen levels could be controlled, pure cultures of hyperthermophilic methano- gens from the study site were grown alongside a commer- cially available hyperthermophilic methanogen species as a control. All three organisms grew at the same rate when given equal amounts of hydrogen and had the same mini- mum growth requirements, establishing for the first time that these methanogens need at least 17 micromolar of hy- drogen to grow. At the Axial site, the team found hydrogen above their methanogen threshold for growth and molecular, organis- mal and geochemical evidence of ongoing methanogen- esis, while at Endeavour, hydrogen levels were below their threshold and evidence for methanogenesis was largely absent. At the low-hydrogen Endeavour site, the scientists found that hyperthermophilic methanogens can eke out a living by feeding on the hydrogen waste produced by other hyperthermophiles. "We hypothesized that the methanogens grow syntrophi- cally with the hydrogen-producing microbes, and it worked out that way in the lab with a strain from the site," said study author and microbiologist James Holden. Survey to Decide NOAA's Future Arctic Charting Plans The NOAA Ship Fairweather began in August a 30-day survey mission in the Arctic to check a 1,500-nautical-mile coastal corridor from Dutch Harbor, Alaska, north through the Bering Strait and east to the Canadian border. The mission will collect information to determine NOAA's future charting survey projects in the Arctic and will cover sea lanes that were last measured by Capt. James Cook in 1778. Existing Alaskan coastal nautical charts, created by NOAA's Office of Coast Survey, use sporadic depth readings reported by private vessels, some decades or centuries old. n The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD), Florida... is conducting market surveillance of closed circuit rebreathers (underwater breathing apparatus). All sources of existing off-the-shelf (COTS) items are sought for this surveillance; however, primary interest is in 100% oxygen and switchable oxygen/mixed-gas rebreathers. ,QWHUHVWHG ¿UPV VKDOO UHVSRQG SULRU to 31 October 2012. Replies shall consist of documentation on technical aspects of the product and the company's production capabilities; product and spare parts price list(s); recommended periodic maintenance; recommended spare parts; and available training. Replies may be mailed or emailed. If mailing, send to: NSWC PCD Attn: Code E13, Theresa Lang 110 Vernon Avenue Panama City, Florida 32407-7001 www.sea-technology.com If emailing, use email address below. The point of contact for this action is Ms. Theresa Lang, Code E13. She may be reached by telephone at (850) 235-5772 or email theresa.lang@navy.mil. Alternate POC is Mr. Brian Toole, (850) 235-5527 or email brian.toole@navy.mil. FSC: 4220, NAICS: 541990, Size Standard: 500 employees. This is not a solicitation. In the event a solicitation is developed, it will be assigned a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) number and the announcement will be published in the Navy Electronic Commerce Online (NECO) and Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps). SEPTEMBER 2012 / st 79