High Seas and Seamounts of the Nazca Ridge

8 July - 9 August 2024 #NazcaHighSeas Lush forests of deep-sea corals and sponges host animals and organisms that defy imagination. Many endangered or threatened species like sea turtles, blue whales, and sharks travel here to feed on the abundant nutrients upwelling from the deep. The 8000-meter-deep Atacama Trench, the Southeast Pacific Oxygen Minimum Zone, … Continued

Ultra Fine-Scale Seafloor Mapping

Expedition dates: October 25 - November 23, 2023 Seafloor mapping is integral to oceanographic research. Bathymetric data illustrate the seafloor’s depth, contours, and physical features, and it is often the first essential step in planning a successful submersible operation. The typical tool for seafloor mapping, multibeam sonar, creates three-dimensional topographical outlines—rather than visual images. Physical … Continued

Vertical Reefs of the Galápagos

Expedition dates: September 18 - October 19, 2023 The Galápagos Islands are home to a dazzling array of cold-water corals. While they are understudied compared to the shallow-water corals, a subset of these deep-dwelling animals is even more shrouded in mystery—cold-water corals living on cliffs. The depth and inaccessibility of vertical corals to ship-based sensors … Continued

Dynamics of Sinking Microplastics

Expedition dates: August 2 - August 7, 2023 Plastic pollution is pervasive in our Ocean. The most prevalent component of plastic pollution isn’t large pieces of trash floating on the surface, but tiny bits of waste called “microplastics” that are found throughout the water column. Ranging from 5 mm in diameter (a pencil eraser) down … Continued

Biodiverse Borderlands

Mineral-Rich Habitats of Southern California The deep sea hosts minerals that contain high quantities of elements that are valuable for human societies. Countries around the world are preparing to develop extractive practices for deep-sea minerals, and baseline biological data are needed to further assess the life that may dwell on or around minerals in different … Continued

Observing Seafloor Methane Seeps at the Edge of Hydrate Stability

Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but exists at far lower concentrations in the atmosphere. Many think of methane as a free-floating gas so it can be a surprise to learn that nearly one-fifth of the Earth’s methane is stored beneath the ocean’s waters in marine sediments in the form of gas hydrate.

Voyage to the White Shark Café

The Mariana region is home to the Mariana subduction system. This November, scientists shed light on the Mariana back-arc spreading center looking for new sites of hydrothermal activity.

Underwater Fire: Studying the Submarine Volcanoes of Tonga

Aboard R/V Falkor, Dr. Ken Rubin and his research team will visit one of the most active underwater volcano sites in the world, the Meta Volcano group. There they will work to obtain a detailed geological understanding of up to 12 different submarine volcanoes, attempting to do this across a suite of volcanos for the very first time.

Microplastics of the Alaskan Gulf

R/V Falkor travels from Oregon up to the Alaskan Gulf on an expedition to better characterize organisms in the Abyssal Plain region and determine the extent microplastics can be found in these deep systems.

Sea to Space Particle Investigation

The Mariana region is home to the Mariana subduction system. This November, scientists shed light on the Mariana back-arc spreading center looking for new sites of hydrothermal activity.