Undersea Volcano Erupting In Ring Of Fire: Tune In Live To Robot Camera

In the sonar image from the 2009 expedition, the summit of the West Mata volcano (shown in red) is nearly a mile below the ocean surface (1,165 meters/3,882 feet), and the base (in blue), descends to nearly two miles (3,000 m/9,842 ft) deep. The eruptive activity occurred at several places along the summit, in an area about the length of a football field. The volcano has a 6-mile-long (9.6 kilometer-long) rift zone running along its spine in a southwest-northeast orientation.

High resolution (Credit: NOAA)

A robot vehicle on the deep seafloor is sending to the research vessel and the worldwide web, live streaming video of lava landscapes and their exotic ecosystems. Join the expedition live online each day, weather permitting, now through September 25, between 3 p.m. and 3 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time online.The science team, led by Chief Scientist Joseph Resing, Ph.D., of NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Lab and the University of Washington’s Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, is sampling and imaging deep-sea ecosystems in an area of the ocean where an explosively erupting submarine volcano was observed in 2009 at a depth of 4,000 feet. Co-chief scientist on the 2012 expedition, Robert Embley, Ph.D., of NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Lab, said in 2009 that the explosions “looked like the 4th of July, underwater.”

Video from the 2009 expedition is available online.The West Mata volcano is not the largest volcano in the northeast Lau Basin, but in 2009, it appeared to be the most active. Scientists on the 2012 mission will again visit West Mata. This bathymetric (water depth) map represents the area visited and mapped on previous expeditions to the area. The Tonga Trench to the north and east of the expedition area is nearly seven miles (11.2 km) deep.

High resolution (Credit: Map courtesy of NOAA)

“The Lau Basin is one of Earth’s most geologically active areas, with ocean plates colliding and separating at some of the highest rates on the planet,” said Resing. “Our preliminary surveys between 2008 and 2011 revealed the Northeast Lau Basin as one of the most concentrated areas of active submarine volcanism and hot springs found anywhere on Earth.”Scientists from the United States, New Zealand, and Australia are working closely with a team led by Volker Ratmeyer, Ph.D., from the MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen (Federal Republic of Germany), using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Quest 4000 to explore and characterize the unique ecosystems of the Northeast Lau basin. During the first hour of each dive, the ROV dives to the seafloor and the final hour of each dive has the ROV rising to the ship. The ROV operates to a depth of 4,000 meters and can map volcanic geology, sample chemical fluids, and collect macro- and micro- biological samples. Scientists are deploying the ROV from the research vessel (R/V) Roger Revelle, operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

During the 2009 expedition, superheated molten lava, about 1,204ºC (2,200ºF) erupts, producing a bright flash as hot magma that is blown up into the water before settling back to the sea floor. Notice the front of the remotely operated vehicle (foreground, left).

High resolution (Credit: Image courtesy of NSF and NOAA)

The cruise is a project of NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research and NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. The National Science Foundation provided additional funding for ROV dives and for research conducted by Brad Tebo, Ph.D. Support has also been provided by Nautilus Minerals in Canada and by New Zealand’s Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences.Video highlights, daily mission logs, interactive maps, mission scientists’ biographies, background essays, 3D bathymetric virtual “fly-throughs” of the Lau Basin, and education materials are all availableonline. Visitors there can also participate in Office of Ocean Exploration and Research social media sites, and in the online inquiry “Ask an Explorer” program.

The mission began on September 9 from Suva, Fiji, and the mission, as well as live video feeds, will conclude upon entering the port of Apia, Samoa on September 25.

Other hydrothermal activity may be viewed online.

NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research is the only federal program that systematically explores Earth’s largely unknown ocean for the purpose of discovery and the advancement of knowledge.

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Visit us atwww.noaa.gov and join us on Facebook, Twitter and our other social media channels.

Lau Basin – East Mata – Sonar image of the East Mata volcano. Image is looking toward the north. According to Lau Basin studies in Nov. 2008 and May 2010, CTD casts indicated that East Mata is hydrothermally active, but probably not erupting.

Download here. (Credit: Image courtesy of Submarine Ring of Fire 2012 Exploration, NOAA Vents Program)

Fonualei South – Sonar image of the Fonualei South spreading center. Image looks toward the south.

Download here. (Credit:Image courtesy of Submarine Ring of Fire 2012 Exploration, NOAA Vents Program )Northern Northeast Lau Spreading Center – Sonar image of the Northern Northeast Lau spreading center. Image looks toward the northeast.

Download here. (Credit: Image courtesy of Submarine Ring of Fire 2012 Exploration, NOAA Vents Program)

Niua – Sonar image of Niua volcano in foreground. Image looks toward the north/northeast.
Download here. (Credit: Image courtesy of Submarine Ring of Fire 2012 Exploration, NOAA Vents Program)North Mata Group – Sonar image of the North Mata group of volcanoes. Image looks toward the northeast. Six of these seven seamounts were found to have hydrothermal activity during an expedition in 2010.

Download here. (Credit: Image courtesy of Submarine Ring of Fire 2012 Exploration, NOAA Vents Program)

Volcano O Sonar image of Volcano O, a huge 3.75-mile wide caldera (inside diameter) in the NE Lau basin. Image looks toward the north.

Download here. (Credit:Image courtesy of Submarine Ring of Fire 2012 Exploration, NOAA Vents Program mal activity during an expedition in 2010 )

Contacts and sources:

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