Researchers funded by the center will use the vehicle to make 21 dives to study undersea volcanoes, deepwater crabs and fish, and methane seeps. This cluster of undersea mountains 300 miles south of Kodiak Island is known for its tectonic activity as well as for several species of deepwater crab and fish that live nearby. The seamount cluster is about 200 miles long and 80 miles wide, with the top of the highest seamount rising to within 984 feet of the ocean surface. The destination this time is the Kodiak Seamount, a volcano that lies 7,500 feet beneath the surface of the Gulf of Alaska, approximately 120 miles southeast of Kodiak Island, Alaska.
Volcanic rocks crop out on the seamount's summit and side slopes.
This seamount is slowly slipping beneath the tectonic plate that supports Alaska. Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography will undertake studies of the Kodiak Seamount to examine the geology and structure of this deep-sea volcanic ridge as well as to understand the methane seeps and unique biological communities that occur here. Scientists hope to learn more about how methane seeps provide energy to deep sea species and how the greenhouse gas may be contributing to climate change. The Alaska Sea Grant College Program is a marine research, education and outreach service headquartered at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Sea Grant is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in partnership with the State of Alaska and private industry.