VISIONS ’14 work is scheduled at the cabled observatory's main study sites: two (Axial Base and Axial Caldera) are associated with Axial Seamount, an active underwater volcano 300 miles west of Astoria, Oregon; one is at the base of the continental slope, 60 miles west of Newport, Oregon; one is on the continental shelf at Southern Hydrate Ridge, the site of active methane seeps and methane-ice deposits. Two other cabled sites on the continental shelf (Inshore and Offshore) are associated with the Endurance Array, the OOI coastal component led by Oregon State University.
Installations will include paired sets of shallow-profiling and deep-profiling moorings at three of the six main study sites (Axial Base, Slope Base, and Endurance Offshore). These innovative, UW-designed cabled moorings operate from the seafloor to the ocean surface, even in depths of 3,000 meters. Details on instruments installations are available here.