In situ observations of the onset of hydrothermal discharge during the 1998 submarine eruption of Axial Volcano, Juan de Fuca Ridge

Abstract

A volcanic eruption at the summit of Axial Volcano on January 25,1998, instantaneously created extensive and vigorous hydrothermal discharge. Moorings 2 km apart along the eruption fissure recorded temperature increases of ∼0.6°C up to 115 m above bottom within hours of initial seismic activity. Water temperatures at the mooring sites remained high for about 5 days, then declined steadily over the next 2 weeks. A response cruise 18 days after the eruption found hydrothermal temperature anomalies of ∼0.1°C over the eruption site, and a more intense and much thicker plume 20 km downstream of the eruption. We estimate the steady-state heat flux required to produce this distal plume, evidence of discharge conditions perhaps 1-13 days after the eruption, as 60-230 GW. The Axial eruption thus produced the largest vent field heat flux yet measured, but these high levels lasted less than 3 weeks. Copyright 1999 by the American Geophysical Union.