Uncharted territory: uncovering the secrets of the seafloor

Submarine landslides pose a significant tsunami threat to coastal communities, and, in May of 2022, eight undergraduate students and a team of researchers from The University of Newcastle set sail on the CSIRO RV Investigator to explore this risk. Dr Hannah Power, Associate Professor of Coastal and Marine Science and Alternate Chief Scientist on The Voyage, explains the potential impact and origins of underwater landslides, and we also hear from Dr Michael Kinsela, Lecturer in Coastal and Ocean Geoscience about mapping areas of the seafloor never seen before.  Student Volunteers Chloe and Mikayla share their experience about being onboard and being part of a data-collecting endeavour that will drive research for decades to come. The Voyage was a collaboration between The University of Sydney, The University of Newcastle, Geoscience Australia, and CSIRO and was supported by a grant of sea time from the CSIRO Marine National Facility. To read more about this story and others just like it, head to newcastle.edu.au/hippocampus