NOAA Begins Latest Submarine Ring of Fire Expedition
NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) recently launched the Submarine Ring of Fire 2012: Northeastern Lau Basin Expedition.
An area on the summit of the West Mata Volcano erupts. Image courtesy of Submarine Ring of Fire 2012: NE Lau Basin, NOAA-OER.
The Submarine Ring of Fire is a collection of active volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean Basin. The communities surrounding the volcanoes contain many species that are new to science and have the potential to provide natural products for medicinal use.
The Northeastern Lau Basin Expedition began on Sunday the 9th and will continue through Wednesday the 26th.
It involves a team of 27 scientists and technical experts from the US, Australia and New Zealand, as well as team members from the MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences in Germany. They will collaborate to use the Quest 4000, a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to collect samples at the volcanic vents and hotsprings.
Check out some of these links from the webpage:
- Mission logs from the 2012 expedition
- Lesson plans and information for educators
- Photo and video log from the NE Lau Basin
- Live stream from the ROV camera
Syringe sampler used by ROV manipulators to collect microbial mat samples. Photo credit: NOAA / NSF / WHOI.
Copyright © 2012 by Marine Science Today, a publication of Marine Science Today LLC.
