NeMO 1998 Video Clips

This page presents a selection of video highlights from the NeMO 1998 research expedition to the New Millennium Observatory (NeMO) at Axial Volcano, a seamount 300 miles offshore from the Oregon coast where a submarine volcanic eruption occurred in January 1998. To view a video, just click on one of the links below the "thumbnail" views. All of the video clips are available in both small and large size, in MPEG format. The small sized clips will load faster and play more smoothly than the larger ones. To the right of each thumbnail is a brief description of the video clip. A few of the video clips play at 2 times normal speed.

Small/MPEG - 1.4 Mb Large/MPEG - 4.8 Mb	<-- A view of the ROPOS remotely operated vehicle being deployed in its cage from the NOAA ship Ron Brown during NeMO98	Small/MPEG - 1.5 Mb Large/MPEG - 4.8 Mb	<--A view from ROPOS of the edge of the new lava flow that erupted in January 1998. (The new lava is black and glassy with no sediment).
Small/MPEG - 1.5 Mb Large/MPEG - 3.9 Mb	<-- A cloud of microbial floc rises from a hole just punched in a hollow lobe of the new lava flow by ROPOS. This is part of the "subseafloor biosphere".	Small/MPEG - 0.7 Mb Large/MPEG - 2.5 Mb	<-- This rumbleometer instrument is stuck in the new lava flow! This instrument was deployed in 1997 and then was overrun by the 1998 eruption!
Small/MPEG - 1.4 Mb Large/MPEG - 4.0 Mb	<-- A newly discovered species of scale worm that had already colonized the new lava flow in August 1998! It appears to graze the microbial mat on the new lava.	Small/MPEG - 1.3 Mb Large/MPEG - 3.2 Mb	<-- A close up view of sulfide worms fighting for territory on the side of a vent chimney! (Hell Vent in ASHES) Hey! Look out! That's my spot! Ouch!!!
Small/MPEG - 0.7 Mb Large/MPEG - 2.0 Mb	<-- View of "Cloud Vent", on the 1998 lava flow, with Marker N6 adjacent to a large hole that is spewing cloudy, warm (27°C), microbe-rich vent fluid.	Small/MPEG - 0.5 Mb Large/MPEG - 1.3 Mb	<-- View of "Nascent Vent" on the 1998 flow, where tubeworms first colonized on the new lava (here seen 8 months after the eruption).
Small/MPEG - 1.7 Mb Large/MPEG - 5.3 Mb	<-- Tubeworms from the CASM vent field. When the front of ROPOS bumps into them, you can see them retreat into their tubes.	Small/MPEG - 1.4 Mb Large/MPEG - 3.2 Mb	<-- Palmworms are named for the fact that they look like tiny palm trees. These palm worms are flourishing in the CASM vent field at the base of a fissure wall.
Small/MPEG - 0.8 Mb Large/MPEG - 1.6 Mb	<-- Bubbles of gas can be seen escaping from this hydrothermal chimney. This is an unusual sight in the crushing pressure of 2200 pounds per square inch at this depth of 1500 meters!	Small/MPEG - 1.1 Mb Large/MPEG - 3.6 Mb	<-- This sulfide chimney is located in the CASM vent field, where Axial volcano's north rift zone enters the caldera.
Large/MPEG - 634 K	<-- 2-D animation of the earthquake swarm on Axial Volcano in January 1998, detected by the SOSUS monitoring system. The earthquakes were associated with the intrusion of a dike from Axial caldera down its south rift zone.	Large/MPEG - 447 K	<-- 3-D animation of the earthquake swarm on Axial Volcano in January 1998 (the same event as in 2-D movie). The earthquakes started in Axial Caldera (the shallowest point, in yellow) and migrate southward (toward you) down the south rift zone.