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Stone Giants

The R/V Atlantis works off the coast of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in the southeastern Pacific Ocean during a 1998 research expedition. During the cruise, researchers used the submersible Alvin to study the geology of the southern East Pacific Rise, which is part of the mid-ocean ridge system that circles the globe. This seafloor spreading center is known for frequent volcanic activity and numerous hydrothermal vents.(Photo by Gary Chiljean, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)