The NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer has kicked off its 2017 field season so far with amazing dives in the waters off American Samoa, a US territory in the southern Pacific Ocean. In February 2017, the expedition team explored the Vailulu’u Seamount, an underwater volcano located east of the Samoan Island of Ta’u. This offered scientists a rare and exciting opportunity to observe the geological and ecological characteristics of an active underwater volcano. Continue reading A Rare Opportunity: Observing the life cycle of a young volcano
Tag Archives: volcano
Discoveries from Leg 3 of the Okeanos Explorer’s EX1605 Expedition
Completed on July 10th, leg three of the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer‘s EX1605 expedition was chock-full of discoveries. The Okeanos‘s remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) conducted 22 dives, exploring many recently-mapped sites in the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument (MTMNM). They ventured where no ROVs have dove before.
Continue reading Discoveries from Leg 3 of the Okeanos Explorer’s EX1605 Expedition
Okeanos Update: Team Dives Mud Volcanoes
In the Marianas, the west-moving Pacific plate is forced beneath the Philippine plate as they collide, a process known as subduction. As a result, the region is characterized by many geological features including fault lines, earthquakes, volcanoes, cold seeps, hydrothermal vents, and mud volcanoes. Continue reading Okeanos Update: Team Dives Mud Volcanoes
To Boldly Go… Ahyi Seamount
About 12.5 miles off the coast of Farallon de Pajaros, within the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, lies the Ahyi Seamount, an active underwater volcano. This site remained unexplored until June 22nd, 2016, when the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer launched its remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to investigate the volcano. Continue reading To Boldly Go… Ahyi Seamount
This is what a shark egg looks like?
If you’ve worked at the Inner Space Center for as long as Alex and I have, it’s rare to see something you’ve never seen before during a live dive. The E/V Nautilus is currently studying volcanic activity in the area surrounding the Galapagos Islands, but they stumbled upon a field of what they believe to be shark eggs. As soon as they appeared onscreen, I called the ISC Video Crew into Mission Control to take a look. Continue reading This is what a shark egg looks like?
Investigating an Underwater Volcano
Recently, I joined up with local up-and-coming researcher, Brennan Phillips, on an expedition to the remote waters of the Solomon Islands. At the bottom of this post, you’ll find great article on the work. A huge thank you goes to local legend Todd McLeish for writing the piece.
All images in this article are © Alex DeCiccio. Continue reading Investigating an Underwater Volcano
E/V Nautilus, Back in the Game
It’s been a little over a week since the Nautilus has been searching the depths for the next big discovery. Not to downplay anything here – I mean, they have been at sea since early June you know. So far this summer they have been exploring the “Unknown America.” Continue reading E/V Nautilus, Back in the Game