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Did It Just Pop?

On what was known as the “Popping Rocks” expedition, a research team led by WHOI geochemist Mark Kurz used the submersible Alvin and the R/V Atlantis to collect samples of seafloor volcanic rocks from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Gases trapped under pressure inside the basalt escape when the rocks are brought up to the surface, making an audible “pop.” A few hours after being collected on the expedition’s first Alvin dive, one of the rock fragments popped on a sample table, as team members Kate Kaminski, Lydia Auner, Elise Rumpf, Caroline Gini, Frieder Klein, Adam Soule, Darin Schwartz, and Hannah Bercovici (left to right) looked on. (Photo by Maris Wicks, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)