No abstract

Axial Seamount, an active submarine volcano on the Juan de Fuca Ridge at 46°N, 130°W, erupted in January 1998 along 11 km of its upper south rift zone. We use ship‐based multibeam sonar, high‐resolution (1 m) bathymetry, sidescan sonar imagery, and submersible dive observations to map four separate 1998 lava flows that were fed from 11 eruptive fissures. These new mapping results give an eruption volume of 31 × 106 m3, 70% of which was in the northern‐most flow, 23% in the southern‐most flow, and 7% in two smaller flows in between. We introduce the concept of map‐scale submarine lava flow morphology (observed at a scale of hundreds of meters, as revealed by the high‐resolution bathymetry), and an interpretive model in which two map‐scale morphologies are produced by high effusion‐rate eruptions: “inflated lobate flows” are formed near eruptive vents, and where they drain downslope more than 0.5–1.0 km, they transition to “inflated pillow flows.” These two morphologies are observed on the 1998 lava flows at Axial. A third map‐scale flow morphology that was not produced during this eruption, “pillow mounds,” is formed by low effusion‐rate eruptions in which pillow lava piles up directly over the eruptive vents. Axial Seamount erupted again in April 2011 and there are remarkable similarities between the 1998 and 2011 eruptions, particularly the locations of eruptive vents and lava flow morphologies. Because the 2011 eruption reused most of the same eruptive fissures, 58% of the area of the 1998 lava flows is now covered by 2011 lava.

Multibeam (1 m resolution) and side scan data collected from an autonomous underwater vehicle, and lava samples, radiocarbon‐dated sediment cores, and observations of flow contacts collected by remotely operated vehicle were combined to reconstruct the geologic history and flow emplacement processes on Axial Seamount's summit and upper rift zones. The maps show 52 post‐410 CE lava flows and 20 precaldera lava flows as old as 31.2 kyr, the inferred age of the caldera. Clastic deposits 1–2 m thick accumulated on the rims postcaldera. Between 31 ka and 410 CE, there are no known lava flows near the summit. The oldest postcaldera lava (410 CE) is a pillow cone SE of the caldera. Two flows erupted on the W rim between ∼800 and 1000 CE. From 1220 to 1300 CE, generally small eruptions of plagioclase phyric, depleted, mafic lava occurred in the central caldera and on the east rim. Larger post‐1400 CE eruptions produced inflated lobate flows of aphyric, less‐depleted, and less mafic lava on the upper rift zones and in the N and S caldera. All caldera floor lava flows, and most uppermost rift zone flows, postdate 1220 CE. Activity shifted from the central caldera to the upper S rift outside the caldera, to the N rift and caldera floor, and then to the S caldera and uppermost S rift, where two historical eruptions occurred in 1998 and 2011. The average recurrence interval deduced from the flows erupted over the last 800 years is statistically identical to the 13 year interval between historical eruptions.

Meter‐scale AUV bathymetric mapping and ROV sampling of the entire 47 km‐long Alarcon Rise between the Pescadero and Tamayo transforms show that the shallowest inflated portion of the segment hosts all four active hydrothermal vent fields and the youngest, hottest, and highest effusion rate lava flows. This shallowest inflated part is located ∼1/3 of the way between the Tamayo and Pescadero transforms and is paved by a 16 km2 channelized flow that erupted from 9 km of en echelon fissures and is larger than historic flows on the East Pacific Rise or on the Gorda and Juan de Fuca Ridges. Starting ∼5 km south of the Pescadero transform, 6.5 km of the Alarcon Rise is characterized by faulted ridges and domes of fractionated lavas ranging from basaltic andesite to rhyolite with up to 77.3 wt % SiO2. These are the first known rhyolites from the submarine global mid‐ocean ridge system. Silicic lavas range from >11.7 ka, to as young as 1.1 ka. A basalt‐to‐basaltic andesite sequence and an andesite‐to‐dacite‐to‐rhyolite sequence are consistent with crystal fractionation but some intermediate basaltic andesite and andesite formed by mixing basalt with dacite or rhyolite. Magmatism occurred along the bounding Tamayo and Pescadero transforms as extensive channelized flows. The flows erupted from ring faults surrounding uplifted sediment hills inferred to overlie sills. The transforms are transtensional to accommodate magma migration from the adjacent Alarcon Rise.

High-resolution bathymetric surveys from autonomous underwater vehicles ABE and D. Allan B.were merged to create a coregistered map of 71.7 km 2 of the Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge.Radiocarbon dating of foraminifera in cores from three dives of remotely operated vehicle Doc Ricketts provide minimum eruption ages for 40 lava flows that are combined with the bathymetric data to outline the eruptive and tectonic history. The ages range from Modern to 10,700 marine-calibrated years before present (yr BP). During a robust magmatic phase from >10,700 yr BP to 4300 yr BP, flows erupted from an axial high and many flowed >5 km down the flanks; some partly buried adjacent valleys. Axial magma chambers (AMCs) may have been wider than today to supply dike intrusions over a 2 km wide axial zone. Summit Seamount formed by 4770 yr BP and was subsequently dismembered during a period of extension with little volcanism starting 4300 yr BP. This tectonic phase with only rare volcanic eruptions lasted until 2300 yr BP and may have resulted in near-solidification of the AMCs. The axial graben formed by crustal extension during this period of low magmatic activity. Infrequent eruptions occurred on the flanks between 2620-1760 yr BP and within the axial graben since 1750 yr BP. This most recent phase of limited volcanic and intense hydrothermal activity that began 2300 yr BP defines a hydrothermal phase of ridge development that coincides with the present-day 1 km wide AMCs and overlying hydrothermal vent fields.