Hydrothermal discharge during submarine eruptions : the importance of detection, response, and new technology

Author Posting. © The Oceanography Society, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of The Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 25, no. 1 (2012): 128–141, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2012.11.Submarine volcanic eruptions and intrusions construct new oceanic crust and build long chains of volcanic islands and vast submarine plateaus. Magmatic events are a primary agent for the transfer of heat, chemicals, and even microbes from the crust to the ocean, but the processes that control these transfers are poorly understood. The 1980s discovery that mid-ocean ridge eruptions are often associated with brief releases of immense volumes of hot fluids ("event plumes") spurred interest in methods for detecting the onset of eruptions or intrusions and for rapidly organizing seagoing response efforts. Since then, some 35 magmatic events have been recognized and responded to on mid-ocean ridges and at seamounts in both volcanic arc and intraplate settings. Field responses at mid-ocean ridges have found that event plumes occur over a wide range of eruption styles and sizes, and thus may be a common consequence of ridge eruptions. The source(s) of event plume fluids are still debated. Eruptions detected at ridges generally have high effusion rates and short durations (hours to days), whereas field responses at arc volcanic cones have found eruptions with very low effusion rates and durations on the scale of years. New approaches to the study of submarine magmatic events include the development of autonomous vehicles for detection and response, and the establishment of permanent seafloor observatories at likely future eruption sites.Support for these efforts came from the NOAA Vents Program and the National Science Foundation, primarily through its long-term funding of the RIDGE and Ridge 2000 Programs, including grants OCE-9812294 and OCE-0222069. SOSUS detection efforts were supported from 2006 to 2009 by the National Science Foundation, grant OCE-0623649

Mass uptake during oxidation of metallic alloys: literature data collection, analysis, and FAIR sharing

The area-normalized change of mass ($\Delta$m/A) with time during the oxidation of metallic alloys is commonly used to assess oxidation resistance. Analyses of such data can also aid in evaluating underlying oxidation mechanisms. We performed an exhaustive literature search and digitized normalized mass change vs. time data for 407 alloys. To maximize the impact of these and future mass uptake data, we developed and published an open, online, computational workflow that fits the data to various models of oxidation kinetics, uses Bayesian statistics for model selection, and makes the raw data and model parameters available via a queryable database. The tool, Refractory Oxidation Database (https://nanohub.org/tools/refoxdb/), uses nanoHUB's Sim2Ls to make the workflow and data (including metadata) findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR). We find that the models selected by the original authors do not match the most likely one according to the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) in 71% of the cases. Further, in 56% of the cases, the published model was not even in the top 3 models according to the BIC. These numbers were obtained assuming an experimental noise of 2.5% of the mass gain range, a smaller noise leads to more discrepancies. The RefOxDB tool is open access and researchers can add their own raw data (those to be included in future publications, as well as negative results) for analysis and to share their work with the community. Such consistent and systematic analysis of open, community generated data can significantly accelerate the development of machine-learning models for oxidation behavior and assist in the understanding and improvement of oxidation resistance

Recent Eruptions Between 2012 and 2018 Discovered at West Mata Submarine Volcano (NE Lau Basin, SW Pacific) and Characterized by New Ship, AUV, and ROV Data

West Mata is a submarine volcano located in the SW Pacific Ocean between Fiji and Samoa in the NE Lau Basin. West Mata was discovered to be actively erupting at its summit in September 2008 and May 2009. Water-column chemistry and hydrophone data suggest it was probably continuously active until early 2011. Subsequent repeated bathymetric surveys of West Mata have shown that it changed to a style of frequent but intermittent eruptions away from the summit since then. We present new data from ship-based bathymetric surveys, high-resolution bathymetry from an autonomous underwater vehicle, and observations from remotely operated vehicle dives that document four additional eruptions between 2012 and 2018. Three of those eruptions occurred between September 2012 and March 2016; one near the summit on the upper ENE rift, a second on the NE flank away from any rift zone, and a third at the NE base of the volcano. The latter intruded a sill into a basin with thick sediments, uplifted them, and then extruded lava onto the seafloor around them. The most recent of the four eruptions occurred between March 2016 and November 2017 along the middle ENE rift zone and produced pillow lava flows with a shingled morphology and tephra as well as clastic debris that mantled the SE slope. ROV dive observations show that the shallower recent eruptions at West Mata include a substantial pyroclastic component, based on thick (>1 m) tephra deposits near eruptive vents. The deepest eruption sites lack these near-vent tephra deposits, suggesting that pyroclastic activity is minimal below ∼2500 mbsl. The multibeam sonar re-surveys constrain the timing, thickness, area, morphology, and volume of the new eruptions. The cumulative erupted volume since 1996 suggests that eruptions at West Mata are volume-predictable with an average eruption rate of 7.8 × 106 m3/yr. This relatively low magma supply rate and the high frequency of eruptions (every 1–2 years) suggests that the magma reservoir at West Mata is relatively small. With its frequent activity, West Mata continues to be an ideal natural laboratory for the study of submarine volcanic eruptions

Volcanic eruptions in the deep sea

Author Posting. © The Oceanography Society, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of The Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 25, no. 1 (2012): 142–157, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2012.12.Volcanic eruptions are important events in Earth's cycle of magma generation and crustal construction. Over durations of hours to years, eruptions produce new deposits of lava and/or fragmentary ejecta, transfer heat and magmatic volatiles from Earth's interior to the overlying air or seawater, and significantly modify the landscape and perturb local ecosystems. Today and through most of geological history, the greatest number and volume of volcanic eruptions on Earth have occurred in the deep ocean along mid-ocean ridges, near subduction zones, on oceanic plateaus, and on thousands of mid-plate seamounts. However, deep-sea eruptions (> 500 m depth) are much more difficult to detect and observe than subaerial eruptions, so comparatively little is known about them. Great strides have been made in eruption detection, response speed, and observational detail since the first recognition of a deep submarine eruption at a mid-ocean ridge 25 years ago. Studies of ongoing or recent deep submarine eruptions reveal information about their sizes, durations, frequencies, styles, and environmental impacts. Ultimately, magma formation and accumulation in the upper mantle and crust, plus local tectonic stress fields, dictate when, where, and how often submarine eruptions occur, whereas eruption depth, magma composition, conditions of volatile segregation, and tectonic setting determine submarine eruption style.NSF-OCE 0937409 (KHR), OCE-0525863 and OCE-0732366 (DJF and SAS), 0725605 (WWC), OCE- 0751780 (ETB and RWE), OCE‐0138088 (MRP), OCE-0934278 (DAC), OCE-0623649 (RPD), and a David and Lucile Packard Foundation grant to MBARI (DAC and DWC)

Eruptive modes and hiatus of volcanism at West Mata seamount, NE Lau basin : 1996–2012

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2014. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 15 (2014): 4093–4115, doi:10.1002/2014GC005387.We present multiple lines of evidence for years to decade-long changes in the location and character of volcanic activity at West Mata seamount in the NE Lau basin over a 16 year period, and a hiatus in summit eruptions from early 2011 to at least September 2012. Boninite lava and pyroclasts were observed erupting from its summit in 2009, and hydroacoustic data from a succession of hydrophones moored nearby show near-continuous eruptive activity from January 2009 to early 2011. Successive differencing of seven multibeam bathymetric surveys of the volcano made in the 1996–2012 period reveals a pattern of extended constructional volcanism on the summit and northwest flank punctuated by eruptions along the volcano's WSW rift zone (WSWRZ). Away from the summit, the volumetrically largest eruption during the observational period occurred between May 2010 and November 2011 at ∼2920 m depth near the base of the WSWRZ. The (nearly) equally long ENE rift zone did not experience any volcanic activity during the 1996–2012 period. The cessation of summit volcanism recorded on the moored hydrophone was accompanied or followed by the formation of a small summit crater and a landslide on the eastern flank. Water column sensors, analysis of gas samples in the overlying hydrothermal plume and dives with a remotely operated vehicle in September 2012 confirmed that the summit eruption had ceased. Based on the historical eruption rates calculated using the bathymetric differencing technique, the volcano could be as young as several thousand years.Support for R.W.E. during this study was by internal NOAA funding to the NOAA Vents Program (now Earth-Ocean Interactions Program). The NSF Ridge 2000 and MARGINS programs played a major role in the planning and justification for the 2009 rapid response proposal that funded the May 2009 expedition. MBARI provided support and outstanding postprocessing of the multibeam bathymetry from the D. Allan B. AUV multibeam sonar used in this study. NSF also provided major funding for the 2009 expedition (OCE930025 and OCE-0934660 to JAR) and for the 210Po-210Pb radiometric dating (OCE-0929881 and for the 210Po-210Pb radiometric dating (OCE-0929881 to KHR)). The NOAA Office of Exploration and Research provided major funding for the 2009 and 2012 field programs.2015-04-3

Hydrothermal Discharge During Submarine Eruptions

Submarine volcanic eruptions and intrusions construct new oceanic crust and build long chains of volcanic islands and vast submarine plateaus. Magmatic events are a primary agent for the transfer of heat, chemicals, and even microbes from the crust to the ocean, but the processes that control these transfers are poorly understood. The 1980s discovery that mid-ocean ridge eruptions are often associated with brief releases of immense volumes of hot fluids ("event plumes") spurred interest in methods for detecting the onset of eruptions or intrusions and for rapidly organizing seagoing response efforts. Since then, some 35 magmatic events have been recognized and responded to on mid-ocean ridges and at seamounts in both volcanic arc and intraplate settings. Field responses at mid-ocean ridges have found that event plumes occur over a wide range of eruption styles and sizes, and thus may be a common consequence of ridge eruptions. The source(s) of event plume fluids are still debated. Eruptions detected at ridges generally have high effusion rates and short durations (hours to days), whereas field responses at arc volcanic cones have found eruptions with very low effusion rates and durations on the scale of years. New approaches to the study of submarine magmatic events include the development of autonomous vehicles for detection and response, and the establishment of permanent seafloor observatories at likely future eruption sites.Keywords: de Fuca Ridge, East Pacific rise, Event plumes, Subsurface biosphere, sea floor, Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Military hydrophone arrays, Volcanic eruption, Spreading Gakkel Ridge, Midocean ridg

Effects of variable magma supply on mid-ocean ridge eruptions : constraints from mapped lava flow fields along the Galápagos Spreading Center

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 13 (2012): Q08014, doi:10.1029/2012GC004163.Mapping and sampling of 18 eruptive units in two study areas along the Galápagos Spreading Center (GSC) provide insight into how magma supply affects mid-ocean ridge (MOR) volcanic eruptions. The two study areas have similar spreading rates (53 versus 55 mm/yr), but differ by 30% in the time-averaged rate of magma supply (0.3 × 106 versus 0.4 × 106 m3/yr/km). Detailed geologic maps of each study area incorporate observations of flow contacts and sediment thickness, in addition to sample petrology, geomagnetic paleointensity, and inferences from high-resolution bathymetry data. At the lower-magma-supply study area, eruptions typically produce irregularly shaped clusters of pillow mounds with total eruptive volumes ranging from 0.09 to 1.3 km3. At the higher-magma-supply study area, lava morphologies characteristic of higher effusion rates are more common, eruptions typically occur along elongated fissures, and eruptive volumes are an order of magnitude smaller (0.002–0.13 km3). At this site, glass MgO contents (2.7–8.4 wt. %) and corresponding liquidus temperatures are lower on average, and more variable, than those at the lower-magma-supply study area (6.2–9.1 wt. % MgO). The differences in eruptive volume, lava temperature, morphology, and inferred eruption rates observed between the two areas along the GSC are similar to those that have previously been related to variable spreading rates on the global MOR system. Importantly, the documentation of multiple sequences of eruptions at each study area, representing hundreds to thousands of years, provides constraints on the variability in eruptive style at a given magma supply and spreading rate.This work was supported by the National Science Foundation grants OCE08–49813, OCE08–50052, and OCE08– 49711.2013-02-2

Volcanic Eruptions in the Deep Sea

Volcanic eruptions are important events in Earth’s cycle of magma generation and crustal construction. Over durations of hours to years, eruptions produce new deposits of lava and/or fragmentary ejecta, transfer heat and magmatic volatiles from Earth’s interior to the overlying air or seawater, and significantly modify the landscape and perturb local ecosystems. Today and through most of geological history, the greatest number and volume of volcanic eruptions on Earth have occurred in the deep ocean along mid-ocean ridges, near subduction zones, on oceanic plateaus, and on thousands of mid-plate seamounts. However, deep-sea eruptions (> 500 m depth) are much more difficult to detect and observe than subaerial eruptions, so comparatively little is known about them. Great strides have been made in eruption detection, response speed, and observational detail since the first recognition of a deep submarine eruption at a mid-ocean ridge 25 years ago. Studies of ongoing or recent deep submarine eruptions reveal information about their sizes, durations, frequencies, styles, and environmental impacts. Ultimately, magma formation and accumulation in the upper mantle and crust, plus local tectonic stress fields, dictate when, where, and how often submarine eruptions occur, whereas eruption depth, magma composition, conditions of volatile segregation, and tectonic setting determine submarine eruption style.Keywords: East Pacific rise, Galapagos rift, Axial volcano, Mid-Atlantic ridge, Lava-flow morphology, Fuca ridge, Northern cleft segment, Hydrothermal activity, Midocean ridg