IN2019_V04: Hotspot dynamics in the Coral Sea

7 August – 3 September 2019

A 28 day research voyage from Cairns to Brisbane. Educators on Board are Olivia Belshaw and Jamie Menzies.

Scientists spotting lumps on the seafloor that looked like volcanoes

Day 16: Unexpected discoveries

This RV Investigator voyage now takes us to the Louisiade Plateau, which sits at the northern end of the Tasmantid chain of underwater volcanoes.

Day 16: Mapping the unknown

Scientists collect extensive data to map the sea floor – the process of determining the depth of the ocean floor at different points is called bathymetry.

A screenshot of the Biological Indicators for a 24 hour period, taken 19/08/19.

Day 13: Biological Indicators

RV Investigator has multiple sensors on board that continuously collect data - 24 hours every day at sea. The data is collected and then displayed graphically in a program called Grafana.

Student looking at a rock sample under a digital microscope

Day 12: Finally, success!

On the morning of Sunday 18th August – success! Four black rock samples collected in the morning dredge.

Jeremey with a sealed bamboo coral sample

Researcher Profile: Jeremey Horowitz

Meet Jeremy Horowitz, the On-Board Biologist.

Green flash as seen from the RV Investigator.

Day 8: Solving the green flash mystery

On the RV Investigator we get to see some particularly spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

Photo of scientist Dr Vanessa Lucieer working on some multibeam swath data.

Researcher Profile: Dr Vanessa Lucieer

Meet Dr Vanessa Lucieer, a Senior Lecturer and Marine Spatial Analyst at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania.

Day 5: The dredge that didn’t….

Sometimes the results of a dredge are less than fantastic – like this one!

Student researcher Quinn Anderson (University of Sydney) and PhD Researcher Saskia Ruttor (Monash University ) investigating black rock composition

Day 4: Third dredge at Frederick Reef

The main research conducted on this voyage involves dredging rock material from the ocean floor. The dredging process aims to collect significant samples of black volcanic rock.