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As researchers exploring unknown areas, you expect the unexpected. But, even for the seasoned scientific explorer, Week Two offered some giant surprises. The discovery of huge active hydrothermal plumes and recently erupted lava, caused jaws to hit the floor on R/V Falkor. After difficult conditions and a lack of hydrothermal activity in the first few days Co-Chief scientist Bill … Continued

With the discovery of big plumes and active venting on the seafloor during CTD tow-yo 6 we really hit the jackpot out here on the Mariana back-arc. This led to further investigation of the site with the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Sentry. The result was a beautiful high-resolution bathymetry map [FK151121_sentry_bathy.jpg] and an even more-detailed photographic … Continued

One of the joys of exploration is getting surprised. And boy, were we surprised when we found a lava flow on the seafloor that looks like it could have erupted yesterday! It is right in the area where we found big plumes and the most intense chemical anomalies during the last CTD tow-yo on what we … Continued

Like a bloodhound on the scent, the recent discovery of our first new vent site energized our exploration efforts. Our next target site was on Map 5, which shows two shallow “saddles” separated by deep basins. These high points correspond to places along the Mariana Back-arc where an enhanced supply of molten magma over hundreds of … Continued