2018 Expedition
Seamount bathymetry

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

September 14 – October 1, 2018
NA101

Expedition Partners

Lead Scientist
Lead Scientist
Expedition Leader

This expedition will involve mapping and subsequent ROV dives on enigmatic seamounts located in a poorly explored area of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM).  The objectives are to determine how and when these seamounts formed and to document the biological communities that presently live on them. The PMNM is the largest contiguous marine protected area in the United States. Deepwater research has been conducted for decades within the original boundaries of the monument, with areas within recently expanded boundaries remaining almost completely unexplored.

Mapping data and rocks collected during the dives will be used to test the hypothesis that these seamounts were formed by the poorly understood process of arch volcanism.  The ROV dives will survey these seamounts for the present of deep high density coral and sponge communities similar to those found in the Musicians seamounts and on rift zone ridges on some of the Hawaiian banks.  

From a biological standpoint, these two seamount groups are located between the Hawaiian Ridge and the Musicians seamounts, where large scale high density deep-sea coral and sponge communities have been recently discovered.  Such communities are hot-spots of biological diversity in the deep sea and have become primary targets for deep-sea conservation in U.S. waters and internationally. Findings from this expedition will help inform management efforts related to protecting deepwater habitats, commercial mining, and sustainable fisheries in the Central Pacific.

Sponsored by: NOAA Office of Exploration and Research

Meet the Team

Selected Publications

2024

Gebruk, A., and Kremenetskaia, A. (2024). Chapter 21 - Swimming sea cucumbers. The world of sea cucumbers. Mercier A, Hamel JF, Suhrbier AD, Pearce CM (eds.) : 351-359. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-95377-1.00030-8

2023

Selig, G.M., Drazen, J.C., Auster, P.J., Mundy, B.C., Kelley, C.D. (2023). Distribution and structure of deep-sea demersal fish assemblages across the central and western Pacific Ocean using data from undersea imagery. Frontiers in Marine Science 10: 1219368. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.121…
Sotomayor, A., Balbas, A., Konrad, K., Koppers, A.P.P., Konter, J.G., Wanless, V.D., Hourigan, T.F., Kelley, C., and Raineault, N. (2023). New insights into the age and origin of two small Cretaceous seamount chains proximal to the Northwestern Hawaiian Ridge . Geosphere 19 (2): 383-405. https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geosphere/article/19/2…

2022

Mah, C. (2022). New Genera, Species and Occurrences of Deep-Sea Asteroidea (Valvatacea, Forcipulatacea, Echinodermata) collected from the North Pacific Ocean by the CAPSTONE Expedition. Zootaxa 5164 (1): 2-75.

2020

Backus, S.B., Onishi, R., Bocklund, A., Berg, A., Contreras, E.D.,Parness, A. (2020). Design and testing of the JPL-Nautilus Gripper for deep-ocean geological sampling. Journal of Field Robotics