Quantification of Eruption Dynamics on the North Rift at Axial Seamount, Juan de Fuca Ridge

Abstract

AbstractQuantifying eruption dynamics in submarine environments is challenging. During the 2015 eruption of Axial Seamount, the formation of hummocky mounds along the north rift was accompanied by tens of thousands of impulsive acoustic signals generated by the interaction of lava and seawater. A catalog of these sounds was integrated with detailed seafloor mapping to better understand eruptive processes in time and space. Mounds grew over a period of 28 days with average extrusion rates of 22 to 45 m3 s−1. The most distant mounds, ~9.5 to 15.5 km down rift from the caldera, grew primarily over the first few days of the eruption. The focus of eruptive activity then retreated ~5 km toward the caldera where it was sustained. Mounds are constructed as a series of superimposed lobes formed through alternating periods of flow inflation, generating up to 30‐m‐thick hummocks, and periods of flow advancement, with <0.02 m s−1 average speeds typically observed.