Expedition goal: MBARI Senior Scientist Aaron Micallef will lead an international team of researchers on an expedition with Schmidt Ocean Institute on board the research vessel Falkor (too) to study fluid circulation in the Doldrums Transform and Fracture Zone, near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The expedition team will use the autonomous underwater vehicle The Childlike Empress to map the seafloor, then launch the remotely operated vehicle SuBastian to conduct detailed geological and biological surveys of specific sites of interest.

Expedition dates: May 17–June 20, 2026

Ship: R/V Falkor (too) (Schmidt Ocean Institute)

Location: Doldrums Transform and Fracture Zone, equatorial Atlantic Ocean

Research technology: MB-System

Chief scientist: Aaron Micallef

A scientist prepares a scientific instrument in a research lab. The scientist is screwing in components on a silver metal plate on a gray plastic platform inside an open yellow plastic housing. In the background are the black counters, black cabinets, and white walls of a research lab. — MBARI Senior Scientist Aaron Micallef leverages innovative technologies to resolve the geological processes that shape the seafloor at fine spatial and temporal scales. Image: Rebecca Englert © 2026 MBARI; masthead image courtesy of ROV *SuBastian*/Schmidt Ocean Institute

The seafloor plays an important ecological and societal role. MBARI’s Seafloor Processes Team is filling critical gaps in our understanding of the processes that sculpt the seafloor. Led by Senior Scientist Aaron Micallef, this team works closely with MBARI’s Seafloor Mapping Lab to study seafloor geology with advanced technology.

The Doldrums Transform and Fracture Zone is a massive system of cracks and fault lines on the seafloor in the Atlantic Ocean. Located near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, tectonic plates slowly grind past one another, sculpting dramatic features like fault scarps and sedimented basins, both of which can host areas with chemically altered seawater and unique deep-sea ecosystems.

During the five-week expedition, a multi-disciplinary international team of researchers from MBARI, Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo (Brazil), University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy), Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (Colombia), Federal University of São Paulo (Brazil), and KAUST (Saudi Arabia) will study how transform systems shape the deep seafloor, influence fluid circulation through the oceanic crust, and support deep-sea habitats.

Learn more about the Doldrums Fracture Zone expedition from Schmidt Ocean Institute.

Explore with the team via Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Divestream broadcasting live on YouTube and Twitch, and keep an eye out for #Doldrums on Schmidt Ocean Institute’s social media channels.

More About this Expedition

Stretching more than 16,000 kilometers (nearly 10,000 miles), the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is Earth’s longest mountain range. Here, tectonic plates pull apart and molten rock rises and cools into new oceanic crust. The movement of tectonic plates deforms Earth’s crust, creating fault zones that record part of our planet’s tectonic history.

Fault zones circulate water into the seafloor and through the crust. In some places, hot, chemical-rich fluid spews out of the Earth’s crust, feeding bacteria that form the foundation of unique deep-sea ecosystems. While these chemosynthetic ecosystems are well documented along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, little is known about what lives on the fault zones themselves.

Twenty-one members of an expedition team pose for a photo in front of a research ship. The research ship has a blue-and-white hull with the name Falkor (too) printed on it. In the background is cloudy blue sky. — MBARI Senior Scientist Aaron Micallef is leading an international team of 19 researchers on an expedition aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel *Falkor (too)* to study fluid circulation in the Doldrums Transform and Fracture Zone. Image courtesy of Alex Ingle/Schmidt Ocean Institute

The expedition team will first survey the Doldrums Transform and Fracture Zone with a multibeam echosounder on R/V Falkor (too) to identify areas of interest. Then, they will launch the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) The Childlike Empress to collect more detailed data. Equipped with sonar technology to map at less than one-meter resolution and sensors for detecting chemicals released from the seafloor, The Childlike Empress will help the expedition team visualize interesting seafloor features.

This expedition marks the first science mission for The Childlike Empress. MBARI’s Seafloor Mapping Lab will help the Schmidt Ocean Institute team process and interpret seafloor mapping data through MBARI’s MB-System software. Members of MBARI’s Autonomous Systems Operations Team have also joined the expedition to help R/V Falkor (too) crew refine launch, operation, and recovery procedures for the new vehicle.

The expedition team will use Schmidt Ocean Institute’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian to study the Doldrums Transform and Fracture Zone in detail, looking for hydrothermal venting and chemical seepage from the seafloor that might support unique biological communities. Thanks to a partnership between the National Geographic Society and Schmidt Ocean Institute, MBARI Postdoctoral Fellow and National Geographic Explorer Olívia Soares Pereira will accompany the expedition to help document any chemosynthetic communities they encounter, logging video observations, animal collections, and environmental DNA (eDNA) samples for further analysis after the expedition.