Publications (8)38.4 Total impact
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Article: Submarine magmatic-hydrothermal systems at the Monowai volcanic center, Kermadec arc
Economic Geology. 01/2012; 107:1669-1694. -
Article: Long-term explosion records from two erupting submarine volcanoes in the Mariana and Tonga island-arcs
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ABSTRACT: Records of explosive activity longer than a few weeks are rare for subaerial volcanoes, and nonexistent for submarine volcanoes. From February 2008 to February 2009, we recorded a year long, continuous acoustic and volcanic plume record from NW Rota-1, an erupting submarine volcano located within the Mariana Arc. From December 2008 to May 2009, we also obtained acoustic records of ongoing explosion and tremor activity at West Mata, a submarine volcano in the NE Lau basin near the Tofua volcanic-arc. At NW Rota-1, a hydrophone and turbidity/temperature sensor were moored ~150 m from the volcano’s summit vent (520 m deep). The volcano exhibited frequent degassing explosions lasting 60-120 s, separated by quiet periods of 10-30 s, for the entire 12-months resulting in >284,000 discrete explosion events. The explosions are broadband (1-80 Hz) with typical source levels of 191 dB re μPa @ 1m. Harmonic tremor is also present at times in the explosions, typically with <5 Hz fundamentals and extremely high-amplitude overtone peaks near 30 Hz. The fundamentals are likely due to resonance of the entire volcanic edifice, while the peak overtone may represent reverberation of an internal structure, possibly the conduit feeding the summit vent. The hydrophone also documents a 103 decrease in explosion amplitude over the year, marked by a sharp reduction after 6 mos, which may be part of the typical eruption cycle or due to burial of the vent by accumulated ejecta. Explosions at the summit vent produced a steady series of volcanic plumes that carried ash and hydrothermal precipitates into the water column. Hundreds of short-lived turbidity spikes are present, with no long periods of quiescence, indicating changes in explosion intensity did not affect the pattern of volcanic plume creation. Our data are the first to confirm the frequent creation and dispersal of submarine volcanic plumes on a year-long scale. In December 2008 a moored hydrophone (250 Hz) was deployed ~30 km from West Mata, a near-arc boninite volcano discovered actively erupting the month before. An ROV cruise in May 2009 deployed two short-term, high-frequency (1024 Hz) hydrophones within 50 m of the Hades volcanic vent (1208 m deep). Both the long-term and in situ hydrophones detected explosive activity as well as both mono- and polychromatic volcanic tremor throughout their records. ROV video shows the acoustic signals are from violent degassing bursts from within lava extruding at the Hades vent (summit of West Mata). The explosions exhibit both short (10s of sec) and long (2-10 min) duration modes of cyclic activity. Many explosion signals also show harmonic tremor within their codas indicative of resonance from within the volcanic edifice. Frequently the explosion records are overlapped by monochromatic tremor from a narrow band within a range from 20-100 Hz. The source of this resonance is not yet clear (although not man-made) and is possibly from a nearby, unseen vent or magma movement within the volcanic edifice.AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. 11/2009; -1:02. -
Article: Hydrothermal activity on the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Tectonically-and volcanically-controlled venting at 4–5°S
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ABSTRACT: We report results from an investigation of the geologic processes controlling hydrothermal activity along the previously-unstudied southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (3–7°S). Our study employed the NOC (UK) deep-tow sidescan sonar instrument, TOBI, in concert with the WHOI (USA) autonomous underwater vehicle, ABE, to collect information concerning hydrothermal plume distributions in the water column co-registered with geologic investigations of the underlying seaoor. Two areas of high-temperature hydrothermal venting were identied. The rst was situated in a non-transform discontinuity (NTD) between two adjacent second-order ridge-segments near 4°02′S, distant from any neovolcanic activity. This geologic setting is very similar to that of the ultramac-hosted and tectonically-controlled Rainbow vent-site on the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The second site was located at 4°48′S at the axial-summit centre of a second-order ridge-segment. There, high-temperature venting is hosted in an ∼ 18 km 2 area of young lava ows which in some cases are observed to have owed over and engulfed pre-existing chemosynthetic vent-fauna. In both appearance and extent, these lava ows are directly reminiscent of those emplaced in Winter 2005−06 at the East Pacic Rise, 9°50′N and reference to global seismic catalogues reveals that a swarm of large (M 4.6−5.6) seismic events was centred on the 5°S segment over a ∼ 24 h period in late June 2002, perhaps indicating the precise timing of this volcanic eruptive episode. Temperature measurements at one of the vents found directly adjacent to the fresh lava ows at 5°S MAR (Turtle Pits) have subsequently revealed vent-uids that are actively phase separating under conditions very close to the Critical Point for seawater, at ∼ 3000 m depth and 407 °C: the hottest vent-uids yet reported from anywhere along the global ridge crest.Earth and Planetary Science Letters 08/2008; 273:332-344. · 4.18 Impact Factor -
Article: Submarine hydrothermal activity along the mid-Kermadec Arc, New Zealand: Large-scale effects on venting
Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 01/2007; 8(7). · 3.02 Impact Factor -
Article: Hydrothermal Plume Mapping Along the Hotspot-affected Galapagos Spreading Center Finds High-Temperature Vent Sites are Anomalously Scarce
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ABSTRACT: Systematic searches for hydrothermal activity along midocean ridges (MORs) demonstrate that the spatial density of hydrothermal activity is a robust linear function of spreading rate. This trend argues that the availability of mantle heat is the first order control on the distribution of seafloor vent fields. However, some crustal thermal models predict that the thicker, hotter, more ductile crust associated with hotspots substantially reduces convective hydrothermal cooling, explaining observations of axial magma chambers (AMC) at shallower depths than found on normal MORs. In Dec-Jan 2006 we tested this hypothesis by mapping hydrothermal plumes overlying the hotspot-affected Galapagos Spreading Center (GSC) from 95°-89.6°W, using a dual-pass, side-scan deep tow with an array of plume sensors spanning 50- 250 m above bottom. The western GSC near 91°-92.5°W has axial-high morphology, shallow and quasi-continuous AMC, and thick (8 km) crust, changing to a transitional morphology, deeper and more discontinuous AMC, and normal (6 km) crust from 93° to 95°W. The eastern GSC, 90.5°- 89.6°W is also an axial high and presumably has crustal characteristics similar to the western GSC at 91°-92.5°W. We identified hydrothermal plumes by anomalies in light backscattering (NTU) from a vertical array of MAPR sensors along the tow line, plus redox potential (Eh) measured continuously in-situ on the tow body at a nominal elevation of 100 m. Many plumes were subsequently confirmed by CTD tows and sampling. Only three areas of extensive and intense plumes were observed: 90.52°-90.63°W, 91.78°- 91.96°W, and 94°-94.1°W. Maximum plume rise at the latter two sites exceeded 200 m, indicative of high-temperature venting that was confirmed by camera tows. Some 25 other NTU and Eh anomalies were detected along ~1000 km of trackline, but none were >5 km in length. The primary result of our survey is that hydrothermal plumes were scarce for a ridge spreading at ~60 mm/yr. Total plume incidence (ph), the fraction of ridge crest overlain by plumes, was 0.076, about a third of that expected for a normal ridge section of similar spreading rate. While the overall low ph is consistent with the hypothesis that the Galapagos hotspot has stifled convective cooling, the distribution of plumes points to a more complex relationship between geology and venting. Where the crust is thickest and the AMC shallowest (91°-92.5°W) ph = 0.124; where the crust thins and the AMC deepens (92.5°-95°W) ph = 0.065. One extensive vent field was active in each of these areas. The eastern GSC section is morphologically similar to the 91°-92.5°W section but has a lower ph = 0.067 and no evidence of high-temperature vents. The GSC joins MORs over the Iceland (Reykjanes Ridge) and Amsterdam/St Paul (SEIR) hotspots as locations of significantly reduced high-temperature venting. The importance of low-temperature, diffuse venting as a cooling agent on hotspot-affected ridges remains unresolved.AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. 11/2006; -1:06. -
Article: The effect of magmatic activity on hydrothermal venting along the superfast-spreading East pacific rise.
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ABSTRACT: A survey of hydrothermal activity along the superfast-spreading (approximately 150 millimeters per year) East Pacific Rise shows that hydrothermal plumes overlay approximately 60 percent of the ridge crest between 13 degrees 50' and 18 degrees 40'S, a plume abundance nearly twice that known from any other rige portion of comparable length. Plumes were most abundant where the axial cross section is inflated and an axial magma chamber is present. Plumes with high ratios of volatile ((3)He, CH(4), and H(2)S) to nonvolatile (Mn and Fe) species marked where hydrothermal circulation has been perturbed by recent magmatic activity. The high proportion of volatile-rich plumes observed implies that such episodes are more frequent here than on slower spreading ridges.Science 09/1995; 269(5227):1092-5. · 31.20 Impact Factor -
Article: Hydrothermal Exploration of the Fonualei Rift and Spreading Center and the Northeast Lau Spreading Center
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ABSTRACT: We report evidence for active hydrothermal venting along two back-arc spreading centers of the NE Lau Basin: the Fonualei Rift and Spreading Center (FRSC) and the Northeast Lau Spreading Center (NELSC). The ridge segments investigated here are of particular interest as the potential source of a mid-water hydrothermal plume (1500–2000 m depth) which extends more than 2000 km across the SW Pacific Ocean dispersing away from an apparent origin close to the most northeastern limits of the Lau Basin. Our results indicate the presence of at least four new hydrothermal plume sources, three along the FRSC and one on the NELSC, the latter situated within 150 km of the maximum for the previously identified SW Pacific regional-scale plume. However, TDFe and TDMn concentrations in the southernmost FRSC plume that we have identified only reach values of 19 and 13 nmol/L and dissolved <sup>3</sup>He anomalies in the same plume are also small, both in relation to the SW Pacific plume and to local background, which shows evidence for extensive <sup>3</sup>He enrichment throughout the entire Lau Basin water column. Our results reveal no evidence for a single major point hydrothermal source anywhere in the NE Lau Basin. Instead, we conclude that the regional-scale SW Pacific hydrothermal plume most probably results from the cumulative hydrothermal output of the entire topographically restricted Lau Basin, discharging via its NE-most corner. Earth and Planetary Sciences Version of Record -
Article: Hydrothermal exploration of the Fonualei Rift and Spreading Center and the Northeast Lau Spreading Center
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ABSTRACT: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2006. 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 7 (2006): Q11022, doi:10.1029/2006GC001324. We report evidence for active hydrothermal venting along two back-arc spreading centers of the NE Lau Basin: the Fonualei Rift and Spreading Center (FRSC) and the Northeast Lau Spreading Center (NELSC). The ridge segments investigated here are of particular interest as the potential source of a mid-water hydrothermal plume (1500–2000 m depth) which extends more than 2000 km across the SW Pacific Ocean dispersing away from an apparent origin close to the most northeastern limits of the Lau Basin. Our results indicate the presence of at least four new hydrothermal plume sources, three along the FRSC and one on the NELSC, the latter situated within 150 km of the maximum for the previously identified SW Pacific regional-scale plume. However, TDFe and TDMn concentrations in the southernmost FRSC plume that we have identified only reach values of 19 and 13 nmol/L and dissolved 3He anomalies in the same plume are also small, both in relation to the SW Pacific plume and to local background, which shows evidence for extensive 3He enrichment throughout the entire Lau Basin water column. Our results reveal no evidence for a single major point hydrothermal source anywhere in the NE Lau Basin. Instead, we conclude that the regional-scale SW Pacific hydrothermal plume most probably results from the cumulative hydrothermal output of the entire topographically restricted Lau Basin, discharging via its NE-most corner. This research was funded jointly by NSF's Ridge 2000 Program (OCE-0242002 and OCE-0242618), by the NOAA Vents Program, and by core strategic funding from the Natural Environment Research Council to the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (UK).
