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

轴向火山是一个巨大的海底火山，坐落在胡安·德·富卡伸展脊上，距离俄勒冈海岸250英里，是美国国家科学基金会在海洋观测方面主要投资的三个地点之一。由于它与一个重要而独特的热液喷口系统有关，并且它的喷发倾向似乎是十年一次的时间尺度，因此axis也成为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火山膨胀的地点，并被用来成功地预测下一次火山喷发的时间。在2011年7月对该火山的例行访问中，人们发现轴向火山再次喷发，喷出的熔岩流在海底宽2公里多，长数公里，导致火山口底部下沉了2米多。这项研究支持了对火山大厦的地球物理和大地测量数据的收集，以测量岩浆重新填充火山内部空岩浆室的速度。创新的海底测量方法，结合新建立的基准和底部压力记录仪，将用于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喷发周期行为和海底火山浅岩浆动力学和流变学的模型。它还将帮助我们评估火山在几个喷发周期中的可预测性。从该项目中获得的见解将应用于海底技术的进步，以及提高我们对海洋中脊岩浆系统行为和海底火山危害的理解。这项工作的更广泛影响包括开发为科学建设基础设施的新技术，以及更好地了解海底火山危害。

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.