New Zealand American Submarine Ring of Fire 2005 - NZASRoF'05
April 3 - May 10, 2005
The New Zealand American Submarine Ring of Fire 2005 (NZASRoF'05) Expedition
explored active submarine volcanoes in the Kermadec Arc, located north
of New Zealand, with a pair of manned submersibles. This is a subduction
zone where tectonic plates converge and a chain of restless volcanoes is
formed along the boundary. The dive sites chosen were at volcanoes
that showed evidence of having vigorous seafloor hot springs. This evidence
comes from previous New Zealand / American expeditions to the area that
mapped the seafloor and surveyed the ocean above each volcano for
signs of hydrothermal plumes. Seafloor hot springs are dynamic environments
where heat and chemicals from inside volcanoes are vented into the ocean
and support unique biological communities. Most of the dive sites have
never been visited before and so the potential for exciting discoveries
was high.
Visit the Kermadec
Arc virtual fly-throughs of the nine individual dive sites.
Updates & Logs
Click images or links below for detailed mission logs.
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."