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R/V Falkor slows down to 2 knots. At this speed, the gentle swell that has accompanied the expedition from the start cradles the ship. At the aft of the vessel, everyone involved in the deployment of the seismic reflection gear is wearing safety gear, while at the bridge the officers monitor the procedure and keep … Continued

“We knew they were going to be there. But we didn’t know how many we could find, their actual length or exactly where they would be located. We just didn’t know how beautiful they would be!” says Dr. Hélène Carton. For two days, R/V Falkor has traced past earthquakes in the depths of the Indian … Continued

“I wouldn’t really say that any day at sea is particularly normal,” says Colleen Peters, Lead Marine Technician onboard of R/V Falkor´s MEGATERA expedition, as she talks about the changing nature of oceanic expeditions. “Despite our best efforts, anything can happen and we have to be prepared.” When it comes to working at sea, plans … Continued

As the MEGATERA cruise proceeds, the workflow and roles of crew have become second nature. The video above gives an inside look at how daily operations function onboard R/V FALKOR.  

Those in charge of keeping the night watch must first take an oath. Not really. But they like to joke about it, because the night watch can get pretty exciting and we seem to have many Game of Thrones fans here on board R/V Falkor. Night gathers, and now my watch begins… The main job … Continued

“The quality of the data is great,” announces Dr. Singh at the daily morning meeting on R/V Falkor’s bridge. For days, the ship has been navigating slowly, at just over 4 knots, while meticulously obtaining detailed imagery of an enigmatic portion of the Wharton Basin’s floor. This exercise translates into more than 530 Km of … Continued

Most tectonic action goes on plate boundaries, its interior is not supposed to do much, but somebody forgot to tell the Indo-Australian plate. And so, on April 11th 2012 it did what nobody thought was possible: it produced the largest strike-slip earthquake in our planet’s history. A massive magnitude 8.6 followed by an equally baffling … Continued

The existence of humanity intrigued him, and that is why Dr. Nugroho Hananto, from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and co-leader of the MEGATERA expedition, decided to dedicate his life to marine sciences. Hananto knew that life originated in the ocean, but he needed to know more. He was aware of how challenging the … Continued

In our previous post Dr. Satish Singh, co-leader of the MEGATERA expedition shared his personal experience on the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the tsunami that followed. “I was shocked by it. I felt that as a marine geophysicist I was best positioned to understand what happened. Most earthquakes that seismologists talk about happen on … Continued

The region west of Sumatra in Indonesia is particularly prone to tsunami-spawning earthquakes and will likely endure a major hit in the near future, making it an important geological laboratory. Learn how the science team on R/VFalkor is conducting an unprecedented, high-tech expedition designed to clarify the mechanisms that cause tsunamis, and help millions to … Continued