Exploration of the Thera caldera continued today using the towed camera sled Argus. The science party explored the area around the Kameni islands and parts of the southern basin. Operation of Argus was very challenging in this
part of the caldera due to the near vertical cliffs that were encountered in the southwest. We had to haul up very quickly on several occasions in order to avoid hitting the walls. The images revealed another field of hydrothermal vents, similar to the ones in the north basin but located along a narrow line extending NE to SW from the southwest part of Nea Kameni. We
also determined that a narrow ridge that separates the western from southern basin consists of lavas that were most likely produced after the Minoan eruption (see fig).

The weather has been a bit rough during the last few days and has limited operations outside of the caldera. The forecast is for improving conditions over the next few days so we hope to get outside of the caldera and continue to work at Kolumbo submarine volcano.

Figure caption: Submarine lava block from the southwest part of the Thera caldera. The block is more than 1 meter in diameter.

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