European scientists peer into the abyss:

Intro: "Europe's deep-ocean margin - where the continental shelf plunges from a depth of 200 metres to the abyssal plain some 4,000 metres below - stretches for some 15,000 kilometres, from the Arctic to the Iberian peninsular, extending through the Mediterranean and into the Black Sea. The majority of this frontier lies within Europe's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and its biological, energy and mineral resources are therefore of great strategic interest. But exploiting these resources in a sustainable manner requires a thorough understanding of the ocean margin ecosystem - something that does not exist today, but which a new 15 million euro EU research project is aiming to provide. The HERMES project (hotspot ecosystem research on the margins of European seas) is funded under the global change and ecosystems priority of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6). With a consortium made up of 36 research institutes and nine small companies from 15 countries, HERMES is one of the largest projects of its kind in the world." Link
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