Things are heating up, and it’s not just Earth for the summer season, but also a volcano hundreds of kilometres off the coast of Oregon. The underwater volcano Axial Seamount, located nearly 1.4 kilometres underwater on a geological hot spot, is showing signs. It last erupted in 2015 and spewed several kilometres of lava along the seafloor. Scientists are observing the seismic activity and are preparing for it to erupt soon. Hotspot volcanoes are common on the seafloor, but Axial Seamount’s location happens to be on the Juan de Fuca Ridge. In this area, two massive tectonic plates (the Pacific and the Juan de Fuca plates) are constantly shifting, leading to a steady build-up of pressure beneath the surface.
The frequency of earthquakes and seismic activity has increased recently as the volcano inflates with more magma, indicating an eruption is soon to happen, according to scientists at the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative Regional Cabled Array, a facility monitoring activities of Axial Seamount by the University of Washington. They use an advanced network of underwater sensors called the Regional Cabled Array to deliver real- time data on seismic activity, temperature changes, and live video streams from the volcano’s surface. When Axial Seamount first erupted in April 2015, scientists recorded about 10,000 small earthquakes that signaled the start. This occurrence lasted a month while spilling lava over 25 miles of the ocean floor. Each eruption reshaped the seafloor dramatically, where sections of the volcano’s magma chamber collapsed, forming a crater known as a caldera.
The eruption of Axial Seamount did not threaten the people living along the Pacific Northwest coast. Instead, it surprised scientists as Axial Seamount’s transformation created some of the richest deep-sea habitats. Its underwater hot springs (hydrothermal vents)spouted water heated by magma beneath the surface, which support a large community of microbes, giant tubeworms, spider crabs, and even octopuses. Scientists await the next transformation of Axial Seamount as it would help them better understand the Earth’s geological processes and the extreme habitats surrounding these underwater mountains.
The article is authored by Nikhila Gayatri Kalla, a student of Christ University, Bengaluru interning with Deccan Chronicle.
