Axial Seamount, a huge underwater volcano at almost 300 miles from the coast of Oregon, shows signs of an imminent eruption.
This 1,000 meter high volcano, which covers a diameter of 2.2 kilometers and is 1,200 meters below the surface of the Pacific, is currently experiencing considerable swelling and rumbling, which indicates an accumulation of magma.
Volcanologists predict an eruption before the end of 2025, but despite its activity, scientists remain carefree.
Mike Poland, a scientist at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, expressed his excitement about this event and emphasized Axial Seamount as one of the world's best controlled submarine volcanoes.
“This specific volcano is probably the best controlled undersea volcano in the world,” he said Cowboy State Daily. “It is fascinating and is not really a danger.”
Axial Seamount, located along the Juan de Fuca Ridge, a chain of submarine volcanoes that extends between Oregon and Alaska, is a young shield volcano – a wider volcano with a low profile.
The resemblance to Mauna Loa, the greatest active volcano on earth, and the typical non-explosive nature of shield volcano eruptions, reduce concern among volcanologists over the impending eruption.
“If Axial Seamount bursts, it will look a lot like a Hawaiian lava flow eruption,” he said. “It is not an explosive eruption, but calm outflows of lava that flow over the seabed from the caldera.”
Axial Seamount, a huge underwater volcano, almost 480 kilometers off the coast of Oregon, shows signs of an imminent eruption (photo: 3D thermal image of the volcano)
The volcano that reaches 3,600 feet high is 4,626 feet under the ocean surface
After closely monitoring the activity of the volcano, research officer Bill Chadwick from Oregon State University predicts that Axial Seamount will burst out at the end of 2025 based on the recent increase in activity.
'Because it has had these three eruptions in the last thirty years, we call it the most active volcano in the Pacific Northwest, because most of them are not so often active on the land and spend a large part of their time sleeping. “While Axial has a pretty active magma supply,” Chadwick told the local CBS branch Koin 6 News.
'So if it doesn't burst, it is blowing up and is ready for the next one. And that is why we constantly keep an eye on what happens to it. “
Axial Seamount's eruptions were registered in 1998, 2011 and 2015, and according to Poland, the volcano was undoubtedly erupted countless times prior to those events.
The persistent inflation of Axial Seamount reflects the level before the eruption, causing volcanologists to anticipate an approaching eruption.
After the 2015 eruption, the Axial seabed initially rose at a speed of more than a meter per year. This pace gradually fell to about one centimeter a year in 2023.
But in 2024, Chadwick saw that the seabed began to blow up again at a faster pace, up to about 25 centimeters a year.
“The top of Axial is blown up like a balloon while magma is supplied from below and stored in the reservoir under the volcano top,” Chadwick told Oregonlive.
Volcanologists predict an eruption before the end of 2025, but despite the activity, scientists remain carefree
Axial Seamount, located along the Juan de Fuca Ridge, a chain of submarine volcanoes that extends between Oregon and Alaska, is a young shield volcano
“The balloon is getting bigger and bigger. And at some point the pressure becomes too large and forcing the magma to open a crack that flows to the surface. When that happens, the seabed drops while the 'balloon' runs out. '
In the months before the eruption of 2015, Axial was startled by escalating seismic activity, culminating in 9,000 earthquakes on the day of the eruption, according to Chadwick's presentation in the Hatfield Marine Center of OSU.
“And especially last year, the number of earthquakes, which is also followed by this cable observatory, was really increased,” Chadwick told Koin 6 News.
“All these signs therefore indicate the last phases of the run -up to the next eruption.”
Although shield volcanoes are generally not associated with explosive outbursts, their flowing lava can still cause considerable devastation.
Axial Seamount, which is located thousands of meters below the surface of the Pacific, is under an enormous amount of pressure through the water column above it.
“Deep outbursts of submarines are inhibited by the enormous water pressure of the ocean,” Polen told Cowboy State Daily.
“Even explosive outbursts compete against the ocean.”
The direct contact with ice cold ocean water will quickly cool down the magma that will eventually erupt from Axial Seamount, creating a solidified crust that insulates the inner part of the lava flow.
Mike Poland, a scientist at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, said that Axial Seamount is 'the best -for -guardian volcano in the world'
Research employee Bill Chadwick from Oregon State University predicts that Axial Seamount will burst out at the end of 2025 on the basis of the recent increase in activity
The OSU research team has used a series of tools to monitor Axial Seamount, including a remote vehicle (ROV) for underwater exploration and sample collection called Jason.
Accurate pressure sensors follow the vertical movement of the seabed. While recorders were initially used on batteries, an advanced fiber optic cable system now ensures real-time data transmission of a series of scientific instruments.
“I can look at my laptop and see data collected at Axial ten minutes ago,” Chadwick told Oregon Live, emphasizing the unprecedented level of real -time monitoring that Axial makes the most extensively studied undersesese volcano worldwide.
Chadwick emphasized that these eruptions do not pose a threat to the public. Despite the location on the Juan de Fuca-Bergkam, Axial Seamount does not have the ability to cause a large earthquake.
'If you were on a ship exactly above the seabed, you would never know that something was wrong, unless you had a hydrophone, an underwater microphone, dangling in the water, you might be able to do some commotion from deep in depth to belong. But there is no effect on the surface, “he told Koin 6 News.
“You should make a dip with an underwater or remote-controlled vehicle or something to see what happened.”
Chadwick regards these eruption predictions as valuable scientific experiments, free from the limitations and fears associated with volcanic events on the land.
“People's life does not play a role,” he told Oregon Live. 'On the land you cannot do these predictions without worrying about false alarms, panicking people and having economic consequences. You don't want to evacuate cities and so on, without knowing that it is necessary. “
A schematic model of the magmatic system under Axial Seamount. Green, blue and cyan polygons on the seabed indicate the lava flows of 1998, 2011 and 2015 respectively
The immense water pressure of the ocean prevents explosive eruptions and cools lava quickly, creating cushion lava's
On the photo: the crew that participated in the underwater expedition in 2013 to keep an eye on the inflation of Axial Seamount
The ultimate goal of Chadwick is to translate the insights from these eruption predictions into a broader understanding of volcanic behavior worldwide.
If the prediction turns out to be accurate, scientists can apply science to other volcanoes, Poland adds.
For many volcanoes around the world, both on land and under water, real -time monitoring systems are missing – not to mention the fact that scientists have only recently gained access to the large quantities of data that are needed to predict volcanic eruptions.
This makes Axial Seamount, with his three decades of continuous monitoring, a unique and invaluable resource.
“That we as a society can predict eruptions of a volcano that lies off the coast and is under a lot of water, that is surprising,” Polen told Oregon Live. “If you can develop a model for how this works at Axial, it gives us a starting point that we can apply elsewhere and we can get to work with a few adjustments with predictions for other volcanoes.”
