Pictures: Giant Undersea Volcano Revealed

Captured by high-resolution cameras aboard a robotic submersible, mineral-rich water spews from hydrothermal vents in this June 30 picture of Kawio Barat, a massive underseavolcanooffIndonesia.

During the past few weeks, the submerged volcano—one of the world's largest—was mapped and explored in detail for the first time by a joint Indonesian-U.S. expedition north of the island ofSulawesi (map).

Mining companies first spotted the Kawio Barat volcano in the 1990s with satellite altimetry. But"we were the first to go there with a {remotely operated vehicle} and actually discover hydrothermal fluids coming out of the volcano,"microbiologistJim Holden, chief U.S. scientist for the Kawio Barat expedition, said in an email.

(Watchvideo of the giant Kawio Barat underwater volcano.)

—John Roach

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