Unlocking the mysteries of the Arctic seafloor
March 10, 2021 – Researchers use MBARI’s robotic fleet to investigate an abundance of scars left by submarine landslides along the edge of the continental slope of the Beaufort Sea.
mapping AUV
Seeing Sur Ridge: New animation transforms deep-sea mapping data to reveal the majesty of an underwater oasis
March 1, 2021 – MBARI teamed up with visual effects artists to transform deep-sea mapping data and reveal the majesty of an underwater oasis.
Revealing the secrets of Sur Ridge
MBARI researchers are leveraging groundbreaking technologies to shed new light on Sur Ridge, a large underwater geologic feature that is a hotspot for marine life.
Canyon up close: New animation drains Monterey Bay to uncover the beauty of its geology
August 18, 2020 – Using mapping AUV data, MBARI researchers worked with Frame 48 to develop the highest resolution animation of Monterey Canyon to date.
ROV pilot helps discover sunken ship that he sailed on in the 1990s
Dec 20, 2018 – In 1995, an oil-field work boat sank suddenly off Southern California. Twenty-three years later, an MBARI ROV pilot who worked on that boat helped find the wreck.
MBARI researchers help map and scout for hydrothermal vents in Gulf of California
Nov 1, 2018 – Building on their 2015 expedition, MBARI researchers will be mapping the Pescadero Basin and searching for hydrothermal vents.
MBARI’s seafloor maps provide new information about 2015 eruption at Axial Seamount
Dec 15, 2016 – Axial Seamount, a large underwater volcano off of the Oregon coast, is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, having last erupted in 2015. At the Fall 2016 meeting of the American Geophysical Union, MBARI researchers unveiled a new seafloor map that reveals previously undocumented lava flows from the 2015 eruption.
Monterey Canyon: A Grand Canyon beneath the waves
Monterey Canyon is one of the deepest submarine canyons on the west coast of the United States.
Continental Margins and Canyon Dynamics
We are studying the Monterey Canyon using multiple techniques that provide data similar to what is used to understand dynamic processes in terrestrial river channels.
Underwater robots help discover hidden faults
Jan 30, 2013 – Hidden beneath ocean waves and masked by sand and mud on the seafloor, underwater faults are notoriously difficult to see and even more difficult to study. As a result, geologists struggle to evaluate the risks associated with these faults and often can’t include them in seismic hazard assessments.
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About MBARI
Research programs at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) encompass the entire ocean, from the surface waters to the deep seafloor, and from the coastal zone to the open sea. The need to understand the ocean in all its complexity and variability drives MBARI's research and development efforts.