NASA satellites are watching Earth's newest island rise from the sea

Oceanographers often point out that scientists have mapped the surfaces of the Moon and Mars in greater detail than much of Earth's deep ocean. That contrast is especially striking in the Bismarck Sea north of Papua New Guinea, where the seafloor remains poorly understood despite its remarkable geological complexity. The region contains faults, volcanic structures, rifts, scarps, and active subduction and spreading zones, many located at depths that make detailed sonar mapping extremely difficult.