Deep-Sea Habitats in the Mariana Islands I

During our exploration of the Mariana Islands region, we'll visit some of the oldest seafloor on Earth. While the are has been an important global focus for deep-sea research, the vast majority of deep-sea habitats east of the Mariana Trench remain unsurveyed and uncharacterized. These widespread areas cover close to one-quarter of the US Exclusive Economic Zone around the Mariana Islands and are by far the least surveyed in the region. In addition to being virtually unexplored, these areas also contain the oldest seafloor in the Pacific (over 167 million years old).