Submarine Ring of Fire 2014 - Ironman

Mission Logs

Follow along as participants in the cruise provide updates and reflections on their experiences, the science, the technology, and other elements of the expedition.

  • Cruise Summary

    December 22, 2014  |  By Bill Chadwick

    December 22: Cruise Summary

    We greatly appreciate the support we received from the Jason team and the captain and crew of the R/V Revelle. They went above and beyond in their efforts to support our science goals and to help us achieve as much as we could during this expedition.

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  • Urashima Vent - Mariana Back-arc

    December 20, 2014  |  By Heather Fullerton

    December 20: Urashima Vent - Mariana Back-arc

    Our last Jason dive was to revisit the Mariana southern back-arc. The goal for this dive was to sample the tall chimney known as Golden Horn at Urashima vent and to retrieve sampling devices left at the Snail Vent.

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  • The NW Rota Revival

    December 18, 2014  |  By Verena Tunnicliffe

    December 18: The NW Rota Revival

    The animal populations of NW Rota are now in expansionist mode! On this visit to the volcano, our fifth in ten years, we found no evidence of active volcanic activity but there was plenty of leaking hydrothermal fluid.

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  • Ecology on a Volcano

    December 16, 2014  |  By Shawn Arellano

    December 16: Ecology on a Volcano

    A fundamental question in marine ecology asks why organisms live where they do. An animal’s distribution can be explained by how they are affected by the physical (abiotic) environment and by other organisms (biotic environment).

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  • Daikoku Seamount Erupting!

    December 14, 2014  |  By Bill Chadwick

    December 14: Daikoku Seamount Erupting!

    One of the things we’re learning on this expedition is that the Mariana arc is even more dynamic than we had thought. We knew the arc seamounts were active volcanoes, but we had little way of knowing how frequently they are active and what impacts such activity might have on the ocean environment.

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  • Weather Not Permitting

    December 12, 2014  |  By Saskia Madlener

    December 12: Weather Not Permitting

    Despite centuries of documented exploration, the profusion of nautical tales, and the long history of settlements along every inhabitable coast, we seem to know more about the Moon than the waters that help regulate the Earth’s climate and foster the growth of millions of organisms.

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  • Microbes Spinning Rocks

    December 10, 2014  |  By Dave Emerson

    December 10: Iron Mats at NW Eifuku

    Unfortunately the foremost reputation for bacteria is that of being germs, and while they can be dispassionate killers, the vast majority are harmless to humans. In fact, far more microbes provide beneficial services to our planet than are involved in causing disease.

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  • A Mountain of Mussels

    December 8, 2014  |  By Verena Tunnicliffe

    December 8: A Mountain of Mussels

    The mussel beds of NW Eifuku are impressive – surely it is a great place to live!!

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  • NW Eifuku Seamount

    December 6, 2014  |  By Bill Chadwick

    December 6: NW Eifuku Seamount

    NW Eifuku seamount is one of our main focus sites during this research cruise. Why are we so interested in this place?

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  • Ahyi Seamount

    December 4, 2014  |  By Joe Resing

    December 4: Ahyi Seamount

    This morning we sat off of Ahyi seamount, lowering the CTD into the ocean to assess the hydrothermal status of the volcano and waiting for daylight prior to approaching the summit.

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  • Return to NW Rota-1 Seamount

    December 3, 2014  |  By Bill Chadwick

    December 3: Return to NW Rota-1 Seamount

    We arrived at NW Rota-1 yesterday, which is the seamount that we’ve found to be erupting underwater during every previous visit we’ve made to the site. However, this time we only had about 12 hours to work before the winds were forecast to come up due to Typhoon Hagupit, which is passing south of Guam.

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  • Mariana Back-arc Vents

    December 2, 2014  |  By Craig Moyer

    December 2: Mariana Back-arc Vents

    Our first Jason dive (J2-797) was to the Southern Mariana Back-arc spreading center, also known as the Malaguana-Gadao Ridge.

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  • Departing Guam

    November 29, 2014  |  By Bill Chadwick

    November 29: Departing Guam

    We’re just now leaving port in Guam and heading to our first dive site at Snail Vent, which is located on the southern Mariana back-arc.

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