The black rocks of basalt sticking up on the sea’s surface near Mehetia were
hazardous for the approach of the German research vessel. Nevertheless, the
second officer on the bridge was trying to get closer to the zodiac, in order to pick
up Captain Andresen and Nicolas Binard. Since their mobile telephone failed to
work on board the zodiac, Captain Andresen was desperately waving his arms,
trying to inform the officer on the bridge about the imminent danger of getting any
closer to the shore. The FS SONNE was still heading towards the dark-black, rocky
outcrops. In fact, the rocky coastline of the island at sea level was difficult to see
from the bridge of the ship. Finally, the second officer understood the danger and
gave an order to the machine room to stop the engines. The ship came to a halt
only about 100 m from the shore and then reversed its course for a few tens of
meters in order to bring the zodiac back on board.
When the captain returned on board, he agreed to allow permission for a few
scientists and two crew members to land on a small, pebbled beach. The party
went on shore for a couple hours and came back on board with samples of rocks
taken from the west-facing cliff of the island.
Three years later, in 1990, my PhD student, Nicolas Binard, along with Professor
René Maury from the University of Brest (UBO: Université de Bretagne
Occidentale) went back to the island by helicopter in order to make a more detailed
geological investigation (Binard et al. 1993). The goal of the expedition was to
compare the surface lava morphology with that observed on the submerged flanks
of the island. They found out that the upper part of the island was built during two
major volcanic eruptions. The ancient edifices formed during explosive events had
given rise to pyroclastic deposits 65,000 years ago. The last volcanic events took
place about 3,000 years ago and formed basaltic flows that covered coral reef
Fig. 9.7 Captain Hartmut Andresen wearing a white headband and Roger Hekinian in a zodiac,
going to Mehetia island (Photo courtesy of N. Binard 1991)
Mehetia Island
315
hazardous for the approach of the German research vessel. Nevertheless, the
second officer on the bridge was trying to get closer to the zodiac, in order to pick
up Captain Andresen and Nicolas Binard. Since their mobile telephone failed to
work on board the zodiac, Captain Andresen was desperately waving his arms,
trying to inform the officer on the bridge about the imminent danger of getting any
closer to the shore. The FS SONNE was still heading towards the dark-black, rocky
outcrops. In fact, the rocky coastline of the island at sea level was difficult to see
from the bridge of the ship. Finally, the second officer understood the danger and
gave an order to the machine room to stop the engines. The ship came to a halt
only about 100 m from the shore and then reversed its course for a few tens of
meters in order to bring the zodiac back on board.
When the captain returned on board, he agreed to allow permission for a few
scientists and two crew members to land on a small, pebbled beach. The party
went on shore for a couple hours and came back on board with samples of rocks
taken from the west-facing cliff of the island.
Three years later, in 1990, my PhD student, Nicolas Binard, along with Professor
René Maury from the University of Brest (UBO: Université de Bretagne
Occidentale) went back to the island by helicopter in order to make a more detailed
geological investigation (Binard et al. 1993). The goal of the expedition was to
compare the surface lava morphology with that observed on the submerged flanks
of the island. They found out that the upper part of the island was built during two
major volcanic eruptions. The ancient edifices formed during explosive events had
given rise to pyroclastic deposits 65,000 years ago. The last volcanic events took
place about 3,000 years ago and formed basaltic flows that covered coral reef
Fig. 9.7 Captain Hartmut Andresen wearing a white headband and Roger Hekinian in a zodiac,
going to Mehetia island (Photo courtesy of N. Binard 1991)
Mehetia Island
315