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Toronto Ridge Our eight survey line was completed around midnight today, and now we are headed west to avoid the bad weather. This last survey line crossed over and mapped Toronto Ridge, the shallowest point on Tamu Massif, which is approximately 1900 meters below the ocean surface. According to Dr. Sager, this large and shallow ridge … Continued
After two weeks of surveying Tamu Massif, we are now halfway across the volcano and about to survey the highest point. Just to give you a snapshot of what we have done so far, Leighton Rolley, Lead Marine Technician, has provided us with a summary of statistics. If you are an educator, this also gives … Continued
How much do we know about the ocean seafloor we are currently mapping? We are surveying the “World’s Largest Single Volcano” with some of the best technology, yet we will still have gaps after three weeks of mapping. As scientists, we often state that only about 5-15% of the ocean has been mapped or studied. … Continued
Our fifth track is complete, and we will keep mapping Tamu Massif to fill in as many information gaps as possible. The bathymetric data is the second piece of the puzzle needed to gain insight on the formation of Tamu Massif. These data are significantly increasing the coverage of depth soundings allowing us to create … Continued
One Piece of the Puzzle The goal of this expedition is to gain insight as to how Tamu Massif formed by collecting two types of data to fill in the information gaps. One type is the magnetic data, that will provide a solid framework of well-navigated magnetics allowing us to construct a detailed magnetic anomaly … Continued
The best expedition is always the most uneventful one. This usually means that things are going smoothly, and we are succeeding in obtaining what we came to get. That said, we just turned into the third track line according to our cruise plan, with an estimated twelve hours until the line survey is complete. However, … Continued
Our Arrival After about 10 days of travel, we have finally arrived at Tamu Massif! During our transit, we mapped over 100 hours with millions of soundings that produced never before seen images of the ocean floor. The arrival at Tamu Massif is an exciting and historical moment for the science team and Falkor’s crew. … Continued
Hello from the R/V Falkor, I’m Vaughn, a geophysics graduate student from the University of Houston. I consider myself very lucky to be adventuring in the Pacific with the superstar crew of Falkor and the passionate, spirited team of scientists compiled by Dr. William Sager, Tamu Massif expert. Setting a Course As Suraida promised in her blog … Continued
The seas have been calm and the crew and science team hope it stays that way for the rest of our journey to Tamu Massif. Rough seas could mean potential issues with data collection or more work to process what we have already collected along the way. That said, today’s highlight was the crossing of … Continued
Once in Lifetime I’m Panya from the University of Houston and the only undergraduate student lucky enough to be part of the science team that will explore and map the “world’s largest single volcano.” My area of study focuses on exploration geophysics, so I was ecstatic about being out to sea on the R/V Falkor … Continued
