A bathymetric survey in the vicinity of Kavachi volcano was carried out on 11 August by the HMNZS Tui. The ship made three parallel transits, ~1,200 m apart, over the summit of the unnamed seamount ~7 km NW of Kavachi. The summit is mostly flat, with a depth of at least 130 m found on each pass. The transit farthest NE showed a shallow and a deep crater on the tracing of the 12 kHz echo sounder. The 44-kHz echo sounder showed two small plumes rising to mid-water depth on either side of the smaller crater.

Geological Summary. An unnamed seamount was mapped during a 1979 cruise about 9 km NE of Kavachi (Okugrin, 1985), near the SE end of the New Georgia Islands at about 8.9°S. The seamount appeared to have been recently active, with porphyritic and aphyric andesitic rocks dredged from that location. Another seamount 7 km NW of Kavachi was capped by corals, and a small peak was noted on the SW flank of the seamount (see map after Okugrin, 1985, in Exon and Johnson, 1986).

Information Contacts: L. Hall, Defence Scientific Establishment, and Lt. Cdr. G. Craig, HMNZSTui, Auckland Naval Base, New Zealand.