The New Zealand American Submarine Ring of Fire 2007 (NZASRoF'07) expedition will take place on the Kermadec Arc, northeast of New Zealand (indicated by the thick, yellow line). The image shows a global view of the Pacific Ring of Fire. The 5 previous Submarine Ring of Fire expeditions are indicated at Explorer Ridge, Mariana Arc and Kermadec Arc. The dashed line is the crest of the Mid-Ocean Ridge system and solid lines show plate boundaries defined by island arcs and trenches. Click image for larger view.
New Zealand American Submarine Ring of Fire 2007 - NZASRoF'07
July 28 – August 16, 2007
The New Zealand American Submarine Ring of Fire 2007 expedition will take us to Brothers submarine volcano, a site of vigorous geothermal activity north of New Zealand along the Kermadec Arc. We will explore Brothers in great detail using the state-of-the-art autonomous vehicle ABE. This expedition will mark the most comprehensive exploration of this type of submarine volcano to date. We will also be exploring some newly mapped deep rifts southwest of Brothers. The R/V SONNE will carry a team of 26 scientists and engineers from New Zealand, Germany and the U.S. to conduct these explorations. In addition, a new remotely operated vehicle will be used for seafloor explorations during the latter part of the expedition if successfully tested by our German partners. Come join us!
Visit the 
virtual fly-throughs of the Brothers Volcano (Kermadec Arc) and the Ngatoro Rift Basins (backarc).
NOAA Podcast:
Learn what we hope to discover on this expedition with a video
or audio podcast on the mission. (Quicktime7 H.264, 5.9 Mb.)
You can access the Ocean Explorer New Zealand American Submarine Ring of Fire 2007 News feed here: 
Updates & Logs
Click images or links below for detailed mission logs.
August 16, 2007 The 2007 New Zealand American Ring of Fire exploration expedition has been an outstanding success for all partners.
August 14, 2007 Learn why buying a complex underwater vehicle is not like buying something at a store. Before an ROV can be used for science, a lot of equipment needs to be thoroughly tested at enormous pressures surrounded by seawater.
August 10, 2007 See three dimensional views of bathymetry data sets that give scientist a greater understanding of how things work in the natural world.
Includes slide show
August 9, 2007 While weather has prevented the ROV from being deployed, it has also provided scientist with more time to explore the deep basins of the backarc of the Havre Trough for signs of hydrothermal venting.
August 5, 2007 Using the AUV data as roadmaps, the ROV pilots can then accurately home in on the vent targets to obtain CTD samples of sulfide minerals and vent fluids.
August 3, 2007 When scientists first gazed at the map of the northwest slopes of Brothers volcano, they thought that their eyes were playing tricks on them – the clarity of the fine scale features was absolutely stunning.
August 1, 2007 Magnetic anomaly surveying will be used to help identify recent lava flows. The younger and larger the volcanic lava body is, the greater the magnetic anomaly is expected to be associated with it.
July 31, 2007 The expedition team will measure and locate the numerous hydrothermal plumes inside the Brothers caldera so that in the end they will have a wonderful 3-D virtual model of the volcano that will show exactly where all the chimneys and hot springs are, all draped over a very detailed map.
July 30, 2007 The expedition team is looking forward to seeing ABE's first dive high-resolution map of Brothers caldera!
The Ring of Fire Missions
Click images or links below for more information on all Ring of Fire missions.
Magic Mountain Virtual Site
Take a trip to the seafloor! Explore the hydrothermal vents of the Magic Mountain Chimney Fields via a series of interactive computer animations and videos. (Where is Magic Mountain?)
Submarine Ring of Fire 2006
(April - May) Scientists return to explore active submarine
volcanoes lying along the Mariana Arc, extending for more than 800 nautical miles.
New Zealand American Submarine Ring of Fire 2005
(April - May) Join scientist as they explore the active submarine volcanoes
along the Kermadec Arc, located north of New Zealand, with a pair of manned
submersibles the PISCES IV and V.
Submarine Ring of Fire 2004 - Mariana Arc
(March - April) An interdisciplinary team of scientists returned to the submarine volcanoes of the Mariana Arc to explore, utilizing an underwater tethered robot (ROPOS).
Pacific Ring of Fire 2003
(February - March) An interdisciplinary team of scientists explored the submarine volcanoes of the Mariana Arc lying north of Guam in the western Pacific.
Submarine Ring of Fire 2002
(June - August) An interdisciplinary exploration team used new technology to investigate the birth of new ocean crust off the coast of western North America, part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire."
