Almost every day for the last five months, hundreds of small earthquakes have rattled Axial Seamount, an underwater volcano located three hundred miles off of the Oregon coast. At the same time, underwater pressure sensors have revealed that the surrounding seafloor had been slowly rising. Then, on April 24, almost eight thousand earthquakes rumbled Axial and the seafloor dropped almost eight feet!
Axial Seamount. Image credit: Bill Chadwick/Oregon State University
Scientists suspect an eruption could be to blame. As magma moves and fills the volcano, it inflates like a balloon: earthquakes occur and the seafloor rises; when the magma erupts, the volcano deflates and seafloor drops. Researchers hope to confirm their hypothesis--and measure the volume of lava expelled--in May.
Read more at Oregon Live.
