Seismic precursors and magma ascent before the April 2011 eruption at Axial Seamount

• DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1490
• Publication Date: 2012-06-08T13:47:48Z
• Authors: R. P. Dziak; J. H. Haxel; D. R. Bohnenstiehl; W. W. Chadwick; S. L. Nooner; M. J. Fowler; H. Matsumoto; D. A. Butterfield
• Keywords: Seafloor Spreading; Seamount; Submarine volcano

For volcanoes at submarine rift zones, a direct link between seismicity, seafloor deformation and magma intrusion has not been demonstrated. Recordings from ocean-bottom hydrophones and bottom-pressure recorders map an increasing rate of seismicity at Axial Seamount, northeast Pacific, over several years before its eruption in April 2011.