Using primarily visual methods, frequent images of various regions of the vent system will be collected and analyzed to determine the types and densities of organisms living in vent communities. In addition, the succession patterns of vent communities and sub-communities will be observed and analyzed using the same imaging and counting techniques.

Just as knowledge of the ambient environmental conditions is a necessary baseline against which to understand the individual vent organisms, so too is knowledge of the underlying patterns of vent colonization and organization necessary to understanding the relationships between individual organisms, species, and the environment. A reliable model of vent community behavior is necessary before several other proposed experiments may be undertaken. This model may prove important in understanding the role of living organisms in the geological formation of vents, as well as in unveiling the role of the subsurface biosphere. Understanding the colonization and succession patterns of vent systems will allow for identification of the developmental state of other hydrothermal vent sites throughout the ocean; when a new system is encountered, its age and state may be more accurately understood when compared with the succession patterns learned on Atlantis II. The many examples of symbiosis betweenspecies and the resulting energy flow through the vent system are areas of biological interest, and the understanding of these phenomena gained through this observation may point to further research with applications in biodegradation, medicine, and other unforeseen fields.

Using visible light, Tug, Superman, and EVE will take images of various regions of the vent site will be taken at regular time intervals. The length of these intervals is difficult to set at this time, but due to the volatile nature of the vent system, they should be absolutely no more than a day in length. Shorter intervals may prove necessary once in situ research begins and the time scale of the vent communities is better understood. Images should be taken as often as the equipment and the analysis time for each image allow. From these images, population compositions and densities will be determined. Images should be taken at various areas representative of the diverse habitats present in the vent system (i.e. black smoker chimneys, diffuse flow vents, open plains between vents, etc.). From these observations general models of the communities present in each habitat will be constructed. The data from the images will be checked using the mannd submersible, from which counts and observations of organisms will be made and compared against those from the automatic images.

In locations at which the habitat is changing rapidly (i.e. at the site of a new vent opening), the community composition will be recorded against a timeline. After several such events, the colonization order will be analyzed by observation and comparison between events to determine the general and specific succession patterns at the Edmond vent system.