WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.833 --> 00:00:05.300 We know absolutely nothing about the 2 00:00:05.300 --> 00:00:07.300 seamount that we are surveying today, so a 3 00:00:07.300 --> 00:00:10.600 true dive for discovery is going to take place. 4 00:00:16.267 --> 00:00:18.467 Hawaii has been in integral part in 5 00:00:18.467 --> 00:00:21.300 developing our theory of plate tectonics for 6 00:00:21.300 --> 00:00:24.200 geologists. The age progression of the 7 00:00:24.200 --> 00:00:27.667 islands, younger in the southeast getting older 8 00:00:27.667 --> 00:00:30.167 to the Northwest, basically gives us an 9 00:00:30.167 --> 00:00:33.233 estimate of how fast the plate was moving versus 10 00:00:33.233 --> 00:00:35.233 how quickly those hawaiian volcanoes 11 00:00:35.233 --> 00:00:39.333 formed on top of the pacific plate. Hawaii 12 00:00:39.333 --> 00:00:42.567 has been a integral part in our understanding of 13 00:00:42.567 --> 00:00:44.567 not just the surface of the earth but the 14 00:00:44.567 --> 00:00:51.033 interior as well. We're hoping to grab two rocks 15 00:00:51.033 --> 00:00:53.933 from this seamount, and the geologists will then 16 00:00:53.933 --> 00:00:57.233 use these rocks to learn a wealth of information 17 00:00:57.233 --> 00:01:00.333 about not just how old the seamount is, but how 18 00:01:00.333 --> 00:01:04.700 it formed. The way that geologists do this is 19 00:01:04.700 --> 00:01:07.900 once we get a rock sample we divide it into 20 00:01:07.900 --> 00:01:10.800 smaller little bits and pieces and one of those 21 00:01:10.800 --> 00:01:14.300 bits and pieces actually gets cut into a thin 22 00:01:14.300 --> 00:01:17.000 sliver of rock in which light can pass through 23 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:20.400 from a microscope, letting us see what the 24 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:26.300 mineral composition is. If any of you have ever 25 00:01:26.300 --> 00:01:28.300 looked down a kaleidoscope, it's 26 00:01:28.300 --> 00:01:30.900 basically the same type of imagery that 27 00:01:30.900 --> 00:01:33.200 geologists use in a petrographic microscope 28 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:39.333 to identify minerals. Underwater seamount 29 00:01:39.333 --> 00:01:42.800 chains that have age progressions was one of 30 00:01:42.800 --> 00:01:45.833 the very first clues into figuring out the 31 00:01:45.833 --> 00:01:48.500 fact that the surface of our planet is not a 32 00:01:48.500 --> 00:01:52.433 static and unmoving bit but on a geological time 33 00:01:52.433 --> 00:01:54.733 scale over millions of years is actually quite 34 00:01:54.733 --> 00:02:00.633 dynamic. This is kind of the story that 35 00:02:00.633 --> 00:02:02.633 geologists always try and put together, we try 36 00:02:02.633 --> 00:02:04.633 and make some observations in order to 37 00:02:04.633 --> 00:02:07.100 tell the story and the life cycle of a rock.