The seafloor to the north of Fiji, where the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates crash together, is becoming a hotspot of scientific interest with implications for earthqake and tsunami activity across the Pacific.

The Australian scientific research vessel 'Southern Surveyor' has just returned from a three-week voyage there.

The research team, led by Professor Richard Arculus, from the Australian National University's Research School of Earth Sciences, created detailed maps of faults, volcanoes and hydrothermal vents that crowd the seafloor and collected rock samples which will help identify the processes at play.

Professor Arculus told Jemima Garrett Fiji, and the way its plate activity works, is crucial to the wider region.

Listen to ABC Radio: Researchers find new earthquake risks in Fiji waters

Presenter: Jemima Garrett

Speaker:Professor Richard Arculus, from the Australian National University's Research School of Earth Sciences