Week 4 - Volcano

This week I was able to tour Axial Seamount. A seamount is an underwater volcano. Axial is located on the Juan de Fuca ridge about 298 miles west of Oregon. It rises 3,906 ft. above the ocean floor and the summit 4,626 ft. below sea level.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Axial_Exaggerated_Bathymetry.jpg/1280px-Axial_Exaggerated_Bathymetry.jpg

Even with the mixed reviews from google maps I found this trip quite interesting. It is currently the most active among the Cobb–Eickelberg Seamount chain and sits on top of the Cobb hotspot. Axial is defined by its unusual rectangular-shaped caldera breached to the south-east. Around the breach there are hydrothermal vents and biological communities.

https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800/2011/oceanobserva.jpg

Axial has erupted a few times, in 1998, 2011, and 2016. This is the easiest volcano to predict due to the thin crust and lava pressure. There are monitors on the sea floor that measure vertical distance. This shows the volcano inflating until it erupts then deflating. due to this close monitoring, it is the only submarine eruption to be observed throughout the whole cycle.

https://volcano.si.edu/images/bulletin/331021/331021_BGVN_017.jpg

https://phys.org/news/2011-08-ocean-observatories-streams-video-undersea.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_Seamount

https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=331021