Have you ever heard about underwater volcanos? In geology, many strange phenomena are unnoticeable, but others catch our attention due to their persistence and mystery. One such case is the extraordinary seismic activity happening under a silent ridge, where more than 1,000 earthquakes occur every single day. Scientists closely observe and they come up with questions such as: what does it mean that an underwater volcano shakes so frequently and with regular intervals?
A silent ridge full of life
The phenomenon occurs under the Juan de Fuca ridge, where there is an underwater volcano known as Axial Seamount. This place has been described as a ‘’truly hotspot’’ by scientists because of its constant activity and its influence in the ocean bed. Thanks to the Ocean Observatories Initiative’s Regional Cabled Array, researchers can look at this place in real time and obtain crucial information about what happens under the ocean’s surface.
Data reveals a persistent quake storm, a rare pattern that shows the strength of the inner processes of the planet. For geologists, this behavior is unusual and it could be a sign of what’s to come.
Types of volcanoes
To better understand Axial Seamount, we should remember the general classification of volcanoes. Normally, they are divided into active and passive, but depending on their shape it can be part of several groups:
- Shield volcanoes: wide and gently sloping.
- Strato volcanoes: steep cones formed by alternating lava and ash.
- Cinder cone volcanoes: small, steep-sided cones built from cinders and volcanic fragments.
- Underwater volcanoes: forming beneath the ocean, producing features such as pillow lava.
And Axial Seamount belongs to the underwater volcano category, which makes it unique and complex to study.
Watching out Axial Seamount
This volcano has already proved to be very active since there are eruption records in 1998, 2011, and 2015. Each one of them followed the same pattern: the ocean bed inflated as magma rose, and seismic activity increased until an eruption occurred.
Today, scientists observe similar signs. The seafloor inflates again and there have been recorded more than 1,000 daily quakes. Having in mind historic data, they believe another eruption could happen before the end of this year.
Importance of constantly monitoring this underwater volcano
Axial Seamount doesn’t shake for no reason, each shake is a clue of the inner processes that happen underwater. Studying this underwater volcano allows experts to understand how magma moves, how the seafloor inflates, and the natural rhythms of volcanic systems are repeated.
The Ocean Observatories Initiative has invested in high-advanced technology to register these changes in a continuous way. Thanks to this surveillance, researchers can compare what happens now to what happened in the past, and predict the volcano’s future behavior.
More eruptions
Even though the quake storm under Axial Seamount seems to announce a possible eruption, it also opens the door to other findings. The systems set up to watch the volcano allow experts to study marine ecosystems that survive in extreme conditions. Even in the middle of the volcanic instability, life achieves to adapt offering valuable information about nature’s resistance.
For a long time, volcanoes, mostly underwater volcanoes, received less attention than other ecosystems like coral reefs or the ocean floor in general. However, with more than 1,000 daily quakes, Axial Seamount has become impossible to ignore.
What’s next?
The big question is if Axial Seamount will erupt in 2025. Evidence show the answer is yes, but scientists are cautious about this. The truth is that this underwater volcano has already changed our way of seeing underwater seismic activity. So, it’s just a matter of time to see how this underwater volcano will affect us.