Microbial methane and hydrogen oxidation rates in the plume waters are being measured. Plume water samples were preserved for DNA extractions so that preliminary estimates of the diversity of the microbial community can be obtained utilizing molecular biological techniques. Both aerobic and anaerobic media were inoculated with plume fluid samples to obtain microbial cultures for further investigation under laboratory conditions. Most of Loihi's surface consists of large broken boulders and parts of basaltic pillows. Several areas along the 2 mile route displayed fresh surfaces with newly broken pillows uncovered by large landslides or by shaking, likely due to recent earthquakes.
Older surfaces are light brown while fresh surfaces are nearly black.
While traversing the edge of West Pit, a previously existing pit crater on the western side of the summit, several glassy fist-sized rocks were recovered that had been thrown out of the crater together with glassy black sand grading to coarser material as the crater was approached. As this deposit is very thin and present only in a few areas, it may be the result of a landslide on the other side of West Pit that threw debris across the crater and onto the opposite rim. The freshest glassy rock samples were obtained from this crater rim. A visit to Pele's Pit, the new pit crater detected by shipboard sonar, showed that it is indeed there, and that the Pele's Vents area was destroyed by this crater-forming event. The pit is nearly filled with a cloud of murky water.