VENTS Program:
VENTS conducts research on the impacts and consequences of submarine volcanism and hydrothermal venting on the global ocean and deep-sea ecosystems. This research includes exploration, time-series observations, remote monitoring, and innovative instrumentation and aims to provide timely information to the scientific community and the general public via peer-reviewed scientific publications and internet-accessible data and educational products.
Featured:
Eruption found at Axial Volcano
NOAA Vents scientists discovered that an eruption occurred at Axial Seamount in April 2011 during an expedition to the site on board the R/V Atlantis with ROV Jason, jointly funded by NOAA and the National Science Foundation. The timing of this eruption had been anticipated which makes this the first successful forecast of a submarine eruption. Seafloor monitoring instruments recorded earthquakes and subsidence of the seafloor during the eruption, but a few were caught in the new lava flow.
Japan earthquake on undersea hydrophones
NOAA Vents seismologists recorded Sendai Japan's Mw 9.0 earthquake on undersea hydrophones, the largest ever recorded on our arrays. This gives us insight into the physics behind how sound is transmitted from the Earth's crust into the ocean and then propagates through the Pacific Ocean basin. The hydrophone record will also be analyzed for evidence of a pressure signal from the tsunami, providing additional information and understanding of tsunami propagation in the ocean.
Discovery of NE Lau Basin eruptions
VENTS program scientists discovered two active eruptions in the NE Lau Basin, one at the NE Lau spreading center and the other at West Mata Volcano.
Later a “rapid response” expedition returned to the two eruption sites with ROV Jason and witnessed spectacular eruptions continuing at West Mata Volcano.
View W. Mata erupting on YouTube.