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.