A global view of the Pacific Ring of Fire, showing the mid-ocean ridge and island arc/trench systems.Click image for larger view.
Submarine Ring of Fire 2004 - Mariana Arc
March 27 - April 18, 2004
The 2004 Submarine Ring of Fire exploration was a follow-up to last years trip along the Mariana Arc volcanic chain. The 2003 expedition surveyed more than 50 submarine volcanoes and discovered that 10 of them had active hydrothermal systems (See "Explorations of Mariana Arc Volcanoes Reveal New Hydrothermal Systems" (pdf, 890 Kb)).
This year, the team planned to make a series of dives to visit some of these hot-spring sites along the Mariana Arc. Visit the Mariana Arc virtual fly-throughs and panoramas of eight individual sites.
They used a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) called ROPOS, which allowed them to explore and collect samples from the hydrothermal sites.
Most submarine volcanoes occur where tectonic plates are either moving apart or colliding. Click image for larger view.
Updates & Logs
The Ring of Fire Missions
Click images or links below for more information on all Ring of Fire missions.
The Ring of Fire Missions
Click images or links below for more information on all Ring of Fire missions.
Take a trip to the seafloor! Explore the hydrothermal vents of the Magic Mountain Chimney Fields via a series of interactive computer animations and videos. (Where is Magic Mountain?)
(July - August) Scientists return to the Kermadec Arc, to explore in great detail the Brothers submarine volcano. This will mark the most comprehensive exploration of this type of arc volcano and is one of the most vigorous geothermaly active yet discovered.
(April - May) Scientists return to explore active submarine volcanoes lying along the Mariana Arc, extending for more than 800 nautical miles.
(April - May) Join scientist as they explore the active submarine volcanoes along the Kermadec Arc, located north of New Zealand, with a pair of manned submersibles the PISCES IV and V.
(March - April) An interdisciplinary team of scientists returned to the submarine volcanoes of the Mariana Arc to explore, utilizing an underwater tethered robot (ROPOS).
(February - March) An interdisciplinary team of scientists explored the submarine volcanoes of the Mariana Arc lying north of Guam in the western Pacific.
(June - August) An interdisciplinary exploration team used new technology to investigate the birth of new ocean crust off the coast of western North America, part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire."