Posted on behalf of Tim Sands

A UK submarine has successfully completed its first scientific mission surveying a deep-sea canyon north of the Canary Islands. The survey found huge holes in the sea floor created by flows of sediment

The craft, Autosub6000, is the UK Natural Environment Research Council’s new deep-diving autonomous submarine. It is capable of diving to 6000m (that’s 3281 fathoms for any salty seadogs out there) and returning high-resolution sonar images and physical and chemical measurements of the ocean.

Its next destination will be off the coast of Portugal to look for evidence of the 1775 earthquake that devastated Lisbon (Times). Most coverage has been about a planned future mission to explore the world’s deepest undersea volcanoes in the 5000m deep Cayman trough in the Caribbean, which may contain new forms of marine life.

This is far from the first autonomous underwater vehicle. They have been roaming the seas since the 1970s. There is even a Student Autonomous Underwater-vehicle Challenge Europe (“SAUCE”). However Autosub6000 is one of the most capable.

The impressive specs of this nifty piece of kit can be found here. More photos below the fold.

Images: Leighton Rolley (NOCS).