Brazilian Research in Extreme Environments: New Perspectives for Integrated Biological and Geological Activities

Extreme sea environments are considered here as those that are difficult to access and mostly require high technology logistics for any research work to be undertaken, i.e., mainly the deep sea and polar regions. Approximately 80-90 % of the oceans have over 3000 m water column (Gage & Tyler 1991), and most ecosystems within this large area are still to be investigated in more detail. The main ecosystems of these extreme environments include the continental margins, seamounts, abyssal plains, ocean ridges, hydrothermal vents and cold seeps.