Collaborative Research: Continuing a unique time-series of volcanic inflation at Axial Seamount

轴向火山是一座大型海底火山，位于距离俄勒冈州海岸250英里的胡安德富卡扩张脊上，是美国国家科学基金会在海洋观测方面的三个主要投资地点之一。 由于它与一个重要而独特的热液喷口系统有关，而且它似乎有十年一次的喷发倾向，因此Axial也是NSF/NOAA对海底火山活动进行15年时间序列研究的地点。 Axial也是第一个也是唯一一个在海底记录活跃火山膨胀的地点，并用于成功预测下一次喷发的时间。 在2011年7月对火山进行的例行访问中，人们发现Axial再次喷发，并在海底喷出超过2公里宽，数公里长的熔岩流，导致火山口的底部下沉超过2米。这项研究支持收集地球物理和大地测量的火山建筑物，以测量岩浆重新填充火山内空岩浆房的速度。 将采用创新的海底测量方法，结合使用新建立的基准和海底压力记录仪，监测火山的长期垂直变形。这项工作的结果扩展了目前的时间序列，使我们能够完善和测试模型的喷发周期行为和海底火山浅岩浆动力学和流变学。 它还将有助于我们评估火山在几个喷发周期中的行为如何可预测。 该项目的见解将应用于海底技术进步以及提高我们对大洋中脊岩浆系统和海底火山灾害行为的理解。这项工作的更广泛影响包括开发新技术，建立科学基础设施，并更好地了解海底火山灾害。

Axial Volcano, a large submarine volcano sitting on the Juan de Fuca spreading ridge, 250 miles off the Oregon coast, is one of the three sites of a major NSF investment in ocean observing. Due to its association with an important and unique hydrothermal vent system and its propensity for erupting on what appears to be a decadal time scale, Axial has also been the site of a 15 year NSF/NOAA time-series study of submarine volcanic activity. Axial is also the first and only site where active volcanic inflation has been documented on the seafloor and used to successfully forecast the timing of the next eruption. During a routine visit to the volcano in July of 2011, it was discovered that Axial had once again erupted and spewed lava flows more than 2 kilometers wide and many kilometers long across the seafloor, causing the floor of the caldera to subside by more than 2 meters. This research supports the collection of geophysical and geodetic measurements on the volcanic edifice to measure the rate at which magma refills the emptied magma chamber inside the volcano. Innovative undersea surveying methods, using a combination of newly established benchmarks and bottom pressure recorders will be used to monitor the long-term vertical deformation of the volcano. Results of this work extend the present time-series and allow us to refine and test models of both the eruption cycle behavior and of submarine volcano shallow magma dynamics and rheology. It will also help to allow us to assess how predictably the volcano behaves over several eruption cycles. Insights from the project will have applications for in both undersea technological advances as well as improving our understanding of the behavior of mid-ocean ridge magmatic systems and undersea volcanic hazards. Broader impacts of the work include the development of new techniques that build infrastructure for science and developing a better understanding of submarine volcanic hazards.