Submarine Ring of Fire 2012: Northeast Lau Basin Expedition Video

2012 Video Playlist | NE Lau Response Cruise 2009 | Bathymetry Fly-throughs | Behind the Science

Ring Of Fire 2012-2002 Expeditions Video Playlist

Select a video from the playlist by clicking on an icon featured along the right side of the player window. To learn more about the science and participate in the expedition, go to the Ring Of Fire 2012 website or click on the other related links at the bottom of this page. Share the video clips by email with your friends or embed them on your blog.

Thanks for following the Submarine Ring of Fire 2012: Northeast Lau Basin expedition as scientists explored the submarine volcanoes of the Western Pacific. This interdisciplinary team of 27 scientists and technical experts from the United States, New Zealand and Australia worked closely with a team from the MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences from the University of Bremen (Federal Republic of Germany) to utilize the remotely operated vehicle Quest 4000 to conduct visual surveys; collect sediment samples; and map the geological, biological, archaeological, and chemical aspects of 2012 target areas.

State-of-the-art exploration and telepresence technology allowed you to join us throughout the exploration, as discoveries were shared live on the web, putting the unexplored ocean directly in your hands.

The 2012 expedition marked the return to the Lau Basin where, in 2009, scientists had captured on video evidence of the world's deepest active submarine volcanic eruption. Click here to watch video from 2009.

All video courtesy of Submarine Ring of Fire 2012 Exploration, MARUM, University of Bremen and NOAA-Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.

Expedition Video Pages [ Downloads ]

Submarine Ring of Fire 2012 Expedition Video

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Dive 9 Highlights - Niua North hydrothermal vent plumes and marine life.	Dive 8 Highlights - Chimneys at Mata Fitu looked like Christmas trees.	Dive 7 Highlights - Stalked barnacles filter-feeding with their white "citti" at Mata Ua.	Dive 1 Highlights - The science team explores bacterial mats at Vai Lili.


NE Lau Basin Fly-through from the north to the south along the Northeast Lau basin.	NE Lau Basin Fly-through from the south toward the north along the Lau basin.	NE Lau Basin 3D images slideshow of the Submarine Ring of Fire 2012 proposed ROV dive sites.	Mission Summary ROV dive highlight image collection.


Dive Q333 Hot shimmering water vents from a black chimney as a fish swims by and narrowly avoids its scalding temperatures.	Dive Q333 'Beehive' chimneys seen at Niua South are covered with two species of snails and shrimp.


Dive Q332 Huge numbers of scaleworms were observed on the seafloor and (as seen here) free-swimming, at West Mata.	Dive Q332 Elongated pillow lava tubes that formed on the steep slope of West Mata are truncated along the rim of the new pit crater.	Dive Q332 Thousands of shrimp swim up off the bottom when the ROV bumps a rock at West Mata	Dive Q332 Close-up of pillow lava formations exposed in the wall of a new pit crater at West Mata.


Dive Q332 The ROV explores vertical cliffs where a landslide occurred between 2010-2011 at West Mata.


Dive Q331 Time-lapse views of densely packed crabs, shrimp, snails, eelpouts, and other vent animals at Mata Tolu.	Dive Q331 This small chimney is host to a diverse group of animals including snails, shrimp, hermit crabs, true crabs, and scaleworms.	Dive Q331 A large extinct chimney with spires towers over a smaller active chimney at Mata Tolu.	Dive Q331 A complex of hydrothermal chimneys and their associated biological communities, seen at Mata Tolu.


Dive Q331 At the base of this chimney at Mata Tolu colonies of white and blue snail are segregated, probably because of different temperature preferences.	Dive Q331 Close-up of a chimney spire covered in snails, shrimp, scaleworms, and crabs at Mata Tolu.


Dive Q330 Sulfur-rich plumes billow out of the pit at Niua North.	Dive Q330 The ROV finds the source of the sulfur-rich plume as it rises out of the pit crater at Niua North.	Dive Q330 At least two species of shrimp graze on microbial mats on deposits of sulfur in the crater at Niua North.	Dive Q330 A thick white sulfur-rich plume is emitted from the pit crater at Niua North.


Dive Q330 A shrimp with eggs visible beneath its translucent carapace.	Dive Q330 Close-up view of two different species of shrimp living at Niua North.	Dive Q330 A sediment sample is taken among a dense colony of live mussels at Niua North.	Dive Q330 The ROV uses a scoop net to collect mussels at Niua North, then shrimp swim out of the way during a transit, followed by a close view of a crab.


Dive Q329 Larger chimneys emitting smokey vent fluids at Mata Fitu are covered in stalked barnacles.	Dive Q329 Squat lobsters swim away as the ROV approaches a chimney with thin finger-like spires.	Dive Q329 Clusters of chimneys of different shapes, sizes and colors cover the slope at Mata Fitu.	Dive Q329 Pink scaleworms graze on the microbial mats living on the chimneys at Mata Fitu.


Dive Q329 Clear hot vent fluids are supporting a diverse ecosystem on the active chimneys at Mata Fitu.	Dive Q329 Active sulfide chimneys at Mata Fitu resemble christmas trees after a recent snowfall. In this case, the white areas are microbial mats.


Dive Q328 A group of chimneys, almost entirely covered in stalked barnacles, rises impressively above the seafloor at Mata Ua.	Dive Q328 Scientists discover black smoker chimneys on the second ROV dive at the Mata Ua volcano at a depth of 2,100 meters.	Dive Q328 Black smoker vents at Mata Ua emit a turbulent stream of super-heated water and mineral particles.	Dive Q328 At Mata Ua, a cluster of stalked barnacles filter feed by waving their fan-like cirri to capture microscopic organisms suspended in the warm vent water.


Dive Q327 An enormous number of Opaepele shrimp have colonized West Mata since it was last seen erupting in 2009.	Dive Q327 A bizarre looking, 'hairy' crab of the genus Paralomis crawls out of a crack that is venting warm fluids at West Mata.


Dive Q326 Hydrothermal fluid gushes from vents near the top of a chimney at Niua South.	Dive Q326 The Quest 4000 ROV surveys a cluster of 20+ active chimneys, named Adelaide Spires by the science team.	Dive Q326 Smokey hydrothermal fluid billows from atop a large chimney at Niua South.


Dive Q325 A lone squat lobster clings to a rock at Mata Ua, indicating that the ROV was getting near to hydrothermal vents.	Dive Q325 Serpentine pillow lava tubes were encountered on the flanks of Mata Ua volcano.


Dive Q324 The ROV climbs to the rim of the crater at the top of the central cone at Volcano O where hot shimmering water diffuses through the ash deposits.	Dive Q324 Microbially-produced gelatinous globules covered large areas of seafloor on the flanks of the cone of Volcano O.


Dive Q323 A crab and snail are collected for research by the ROVs suction sampler.	Dive Q323 A forest of active and inactive chimneys hosts active vents with clusters of snails (2 species), limpets, crabs and shrimp.	Dive Q323 Fields of dead mussel shells, coated with a black manganese-oxide, littered the seafloor near sulfide chimneys at Fonualei Rift.	Dive Q323 Smoky hot vent fluid rises relatively calmly from a chimney at Fonualei Rift.


Dive Q323 The ROV rises slowly to the top of one of the largest chimneys at Fonualei Rift.	Dive Q323 Some of the giant spires at Fonualei Rift reached 35-40 meters above the seafloor.	Dive Q323 A colorful array of chimney formations seen at 1,555m depth at Fonualei Rift.


Dive Q322 Microbial mats are sampled in a scoop by the ROV’s manipulator arm.	Dive Q322 The ROV measures the temperature of the vent fluids where microbial mats will be collected.	Dive Q322 The yellow areas are places where the underlying iron-oxide mat has extruded through the overlying black manganese-oxide mat.	Dive Q322 The ROV uses a scoop sampler to collect mats of both types for DNA analysis.


Dive Q322 The ROV’s manipulator arm probes the mat showing that the black mat is just a thin crust over the thicker fluffy yellow mat.	Dive Q322 Microbial mats of two types are found at this unusual vent site at Vai Lili. The black areas are a thin manganese-oxide mat over a thicker yellow iron-oxide mat.

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