One of the world’s top scientific research ships will next week start a series of expeditions in the seas around New Zealand probing some of the 21^st century’s big earth science questions.

Two new studies published this month reveal that Auckland’s volcanic past was temperamental, with at one stage several large eruptions happening within 4,000 years, contrasted with thousands of years or more of silence.

Climate scientists will be able to more accurately study Earth’s temperature changes, thanks to a global database compiled with the help of a GNS Science and Victoria University of Wellington researcher.