Region: Eastern Pacific

In austral summer, the Antarctic sea ice recedes, allowing scientists to map and study parts of the seafloor typically covered in ice. But the waters surrounding the Antarctic Peninsula in the Bellingshausen Sea in Antarctica have not been well mapped and studied. It’s not easy to get there, after all. Drs. Patricia Esquete from the University of Aveiro, Portugal, and Aleksandr Montelli from the University College London, UK, will travel to this remote region with an international team of scientists to create the first high-resolution maps of this region and study the animals that dwell here. 

On May 2, 2008, Chile’s Chaitén volcano erupted without warning, spewing ash 30 kilometers into the air.  This ash blanketed the landscape, and heavy rain in the following days triggered devastating volcanic mudflows that flowed down mountainsides and into the fjords below. The nearby town of Chaitén evacuated as the volcano completely transformed the surrounding landscape. While the destruction was easy to observe on land, scientists have not yet closely examined the impacts the eruption had on the surrounding ocean environments. Dr. Sebastian Watt of the University of Birmingham, UK, will lead an international team to study the underwater effects of the Chaitén eruption from the research vessel Falkor (too). Understanding the imprint of the Chaitén eruption in the marine environment will also help unlock deeper-time records of major volcanic eruptions in the region, allowing scientists to reconstruct volcanic behavior in Southern Chile over geologic time. 

On May 2, 2008, Chile’s Chaitén volcano erupted without warning, spewing ash 30 kilometers into the air.  This ash blanketed the landscape, and heavy rain in the following days triggered devastating volcanic mudflows that flowed down mountainsides and into the fjords below. The nearby town of Chaitén evacuated as the volcano completely transformed the surrounding landscape. While the destruction was easy to observe on land, scientists have not yet closely examined the impacts the eruption had on the surrounding ocean environments. Dr. Sebastian Watt of the University of Birmingham, UK, will lead an international team to study the underwater effects of the Chaitén eruption from the research vessel Falkor (too). Understanding the imprint of the Chaitén eruption in the marine environment will also help unlock deeper-time records of major volcanic eruptions in the region, allowing scientists to reconstruct volcanic behavior in Southern Chile over geologic time.