Image Archive

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A beautiful octopus hanging out on a rubbly sheet flow in the ASHES hydrothermal field, spotted by ROPOS adjacent to a diffuse flow site. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF/V22/

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This bathymetric map shows the location of the 2011 and 2015 lava flows in the caldera of Axial Seamount and along the northern rift and the hydrothermal fields (e.g. International District) and diffuse flow sites and other vents. Credit: M. Elend, University of Washington. The bathymetry is courtesy of D. Caress, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

Environments at Axial Seamount

"Bathtub" rings mark the egress of lava in collapsed lava lake from the 2011 eruption in Axial Caldera. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI; V17.

A basaltic pillar stands in a collapsed lava lake from the 2011 eruption in Axial Caldera. "Bathtub rings mark the egress of lava. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI; V17.

Arches capped by glassy basalts remain in a collapsed lava lake at the summit of Axial seamount. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI; V17.

An underwater cave filled with rubble from a collapsed lava lake is capped by glassy flows. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI; V17.

An odd basalt formation at the edge of a small, collapsed and frozen lava lake is colonized by tubeworms. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI; V17.

Axial Seismometers

The RCA hosts an array of seismometers associated with Axial Seamount and the Cascadia Margin. Credit: University of Washington.

Axial Seamount Earthquakes

Making a Volcano

A rare view of an underwater eruption, this one at the West Mata Volcano located in Lau Basin southwest of Samoa.

This video was captured during the Submarine RIng of Fire 2006 Exploration as part of the NOAA Vents Program.

The 2015 eruption of Axial Seamount along the northern rift culminated in a 127 m thick lava flow. Three months after the eruption, during the Regional Cabled Array VISIONS'15 cruise, the remotely operated vehicle ROPOS captured the first images of the flow, landing 10 m away from its base. The summit was covered in acres of microbial mats. Credit. D. Kelley, University of Washington, UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF

Why study Volcanoes

Where volcanoes form.001

This animation shows the relationship between earthquakes and the location of volcanoes around the "ring of fire". Credit: UW Center for Environmental Visualization.

During subduction of the Juan de Fuca (JdF) Plate beneath the North American Plate, ocean crust and overlying sediments being carried downward heat up, releasing water and other gases into the overlying plate, causing melts to form ~ 50 miles beneath the volcano. Images of the volcanoes are in the USGS public domain. In conrast, Axial Seamount is formed by melts rising from beneath the JdF spreading center that forms the plate boundary between the Pacific Plate and the JdF Plate. Credit. D. Kelley, University of Washington.