Madrid to Rio de Janeiro

1693 - A French map of the Atlantic ocean showing the east coast of North America, the Caribbean and Central America, 70 years after the Mayflower landed in the United States of America.

1513 - The Piri Reis Map covering the Atlantic Ocean from the north-west coast of Africa and Spain to Southern America. Few explorational voyages had been undertaken at this point.

A Russian fishing trawler in the North Atlantic Ocean after drawing on-board a full trawl. The Atlantic holds some of the world's richest stocks of fish, a valuable natural resource.

Oil platforms in the North Atlantic Ocean (between Norway and Shetland). The Atlantic supplies a huge amount of the world's oil and gas and is a valuable natural resource.

Although travel across the Atlantic is now relatively easy, by sea or air, centuries of explorers have looked out over the deep blue horizon in wonder at what lay beyond.

The raft Ra II, built in papyrus reeds using traditional methods, was used in 1969 to sail across the Atlantic to prove that our pre-historic ancestors could have done so.

This bathymetric (depth) map of the Atlantic Ocean shows how deep it is for the majority of its breadth, with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge highlighted as a shallow section in light blue.

A portrait of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish explorer who first discovered the "New World" of the Americas when he landed in the Bahamas in the 15th century.

1912 - Replicas of the Pinta, Santa Maria and Niña, ships used by Columbus to explore the "New World" off the coast of Chicago as part of a commemorative voyage from Spain.

Christopher Columbus was one of the most famous explorers of the Atlantic, undertaking four voyages throughout the 15th century as mapped in this diagram.

1882 - A painting depicting the arrival of the English Separatist "Pilgrims" from Plymouth on the Mayflower in what would become the harbour of Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA.

Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic in 1928, and completed one of the most famous "modern day" journeys across this great body of water.

1901 - The Eastern Telegraph Company's global map of telegraph cables - notice how heavily concentrated the links across the Northern Atlantic are compared with the rest of the world.

This diagram mapped out where scientists believe the constructive and destructive plate boundaries across the Earth's surface are located, working together to maintain equilibrium.

The age of the sea floor is mapped here by colours, with the newer sea bed shown in red (near the centre of the spreading ridges) and the older sea floor shown in yellow, green and blue.

This diagram demonstrates the cyclical relationship between constructive tectonic boundaries (at mid-ocean ridges) and destructive plate boundaries (subduction zones).

A map detailing the location of spreading ridges, such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, across the Earth's surface. As these boundaries, new crust is created on a constant basis.

This diagram shows the interaction between spreading ridges (such as the mid-Atlantic Ridge) and other plate boundaries which work in a cycle of equilibrium across the Earth's surface.

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge as it runs through Iceland: one of the easiest places for scientists to study the spreading bridge as its effects can be observed on land.

The geothermal area Krýsuvík, on the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland, is a surface demonstration of the geothermal processes occurring throughout the length of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge forms the boundary between Europe and America, as along this line the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet and slowly separate.

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge at Thingvellir in Iceland is one of the few places where the ridge can be observed on the surface, with new crust being created at a rate of 2.5 cm/year.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute's submersible research vehicle, ALVIN, has been used on more than 4,000 dives to explore the mystery of the deep sea floor.

White smokers, a type of hydrothermal vent, gushing high-temperature, mineral rich heated water on to the sea bed along the "Champagne Vent" hydrothermal field.

A ledge on the side of an underwater chimney is topped with a beautiful pattern of finger-like growths created from the mineral-rich fluids flowing out of the hydrothermal vent.

This image demonstrates some of the variety of textures which can be built up on the carbonate structures, from tall pinnacles to intricate honeycombed structures.

The top of Nature Pinnacle, part of the extensive Lost City field, with a distinctive large "V" shaped formed by the growth of carbonate structures over time.

A stunning capture of a deep red deep sea jellyfish, thought to be Poralia rufescens, hovering several hundred meters above geothermal vents on the sea floor.

A large 20-cm wide Xenophyophore, a type of single-celled animal which feeds on particulate matter drifting through the rich waters around geothermal vents.

A spidery galatheid crab can be seen running across the sea floor at the base of the red antipatharian coral, which has a Venus flytrap anemone hanging from the top branch.

A beautifully marked red and white crab uses the carbonate debris at the base of a Lost City spire on the edge of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge as shelter and protection.

Extensive beds of siboglinid polychaetes, a type of "bone worm" are specially adapted for life in the deep ocean and provide a habitat for many other types of animals.

The deep sea floor remains relatively unexplored as sophisticated technology, such as these remotely operated underwater vehicles, is the only way to explore at these depths.

The Hercules ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle) examines broken carbonate spines found at the base of geothermal vents on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

A large spiny pencil urchin nestles against the crag of the Atlantic floor. The areas around geothermal vents are able to support a wide range of marine life not otherwise seen at these depths.

A white carbonate spire in the Lost City vent field rises up from the edge of the ridge into the depths of the sea. These pinnacles are built up slowly by layers of minerals.

The red surface polyps of a deep-sea coral along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge with a bright red exoskeleton. At these depths, bright artificial light must be used to examine specimens.

The Argus ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle), used as a "mother ship" for the smaller Hercules ROV, operated by NOAA to explore the deep sea floor of the Atlantic.

Carbonate spires built up out of minerals which precipitate out of the hydrothermal vents, creating these huge towers along the Lost City hydrothermal field on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.