Volcanoes of the Deep Sea & Exotic Terrane

Volcanoes of the Deep Sea
Directed by Stephen Low, USA 2005, 40 min. This film submerges audiences into a little-explored dimension of our planet—the mysterious hydrothermal vents on the 46,000-mile long mid-ocean ridge.

It tracks a team of scientists as they dive to depths below 8,000 feet, where the temperature can reach 400 degrees, to capture footage of deep-sea fauna and phenomena from the hidden universe below.

As the dive unfolds, the scientists discover strange communities of organisms, shipwreck gardens, bioluminescent creatures and awesome giant predators. Ninety-seven percent of the earth's Biosphere is located here, in the dark regions of the ocean that humans have just begun to penetrate and explore.

In a world of towering underwater chimneys, giant tubeworms and other sulfur-loving creatures captured in unprecedented clarity, discoveries from these deep portions of the ocean may hold the key to the emergence of life on earth.

Produced in association with Rutgers University with support from the National Science Foundation.

Exotic Terrane: Geological Discoveries in the Pacific Northwest
Directed by Doug Prose
USA 1992 28 min.

"Exotic terrane" refers to a group of rocks that has attached itself to a tectonic plate and migrated away from its place of origin. This fascinating program documents the latest geological discoveries in the Pacific Northwest, where fossils of an equatorial coral reef are being found along the ridges of Hells Canyon in eastern Oregon.

This film is the dramatic story of the scientists who pieced together the history of these rocks, and offers an explanation of the tectonic activity that makes such extreme displacements possible.

Event Sponsor
Oceanography

More Information
956-7633, ocean@soest.hawaii.edu

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