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Paper short abstract

Drawing on five weeks of participant observation aboard the Norwegian research vessel and icebreaker Kronprins Haakon, this paper reflects on and deconstructs the anthropocentric scientific notion of 'extreme environments' by examining gas hydrate samples.

Paper long abstract

Drawing on five weeks of participant observation aboard the Norwegian research vessel and icebreaker Kronprins Haakon, this paper reflects on and deconstructs the anthropocentric scientific notion of 'extreme environments' by examining gas hydrate samples. Beneath the waves, the deep sea holds stories written in mud, rock, and gas: records of past climates, tectonic shifts, and life itself. To protect it, exploit it, or reconstruct its deep-time histories, scientists must first core the seabed—extracting sediments, minerals, and fluids that capture a snapshot of the present while enabling reconstructions of the past and projections into the future. These samples become portals through which the deep sea is rendered knowable and valuable.

A rock retrieved from the Fram Strait, for instance, may be a "window" of Earth’s mantle, yet it might also be "just" a fragment transported by ice and deposited on the seafloor. Collecting such materials is therefore not merely a scientific practice; it can shape territorial claims and geopolitical interests, turning sediments into instruments of power. Following deep-sea matter as it is transformed into scientific samples and consequently disciplinary objects, this paper argues that an anthropology from the ground up must remain attentive not only to what the ground tells us, but also to the anthropocentric imaginaries and technologies through which we continue to capture and domesticate it.