Thanks to a set of by the 天美影视传媒 to bring the deep sea online, what appears to be an eruption of Axial Volcano on April 23 was observed in real time by scientists on shore.

“It was an astonishing experience to see the changes taking place 300 miles away with no one anywhere nearby, and the data flowed back to land at the speed of light through the fiber-optic cable connected to Pacific City 鈥� and from there, to here on campus by the Internet, in milliseconds,” said , a UW professor of oceanography who led the installation of the instruments as part of a larger effort sponsored by the .

Delaney organized a on campus in mid-April at which marine scientists discussed how this high-tech observatory would support their science. Then, just before midnight on April 23 until about noon the next day, the seismic activity went off the charts.

The gradually increasing rumblings of the mountain were documented over recent weeks by , a UW marine geophysicist who studies such systems.

During last week’s event, the earthquakes increased from hundreds per day to thousands per day, and the center of the volcanic crater (2 meters) over the course of 12 hours.

“The only way that could have happened was to have the magma move from beneath the caldera to some other location,” Delaney said, “which the earthquakes indicate is right along the edge of the caldera on the east side.”

The seismic activity was recorded by eight that measure shaking up to 200 times per second around the caldera and at the base of the 3,000-foot seamount. The height of the caldera was tracked by the , which measures the pressure of the water overhead and then removes the effect of tides and waves to calculate its position.

The depth instrument was developed by , an oceanographer at Oregon State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who has also and predicted that the volcano would erupt in 2015.

The most recent eruptions were in 1998 and 2011.

The volcano is located about 300 miles west of Astoria, Oregon, on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, part of the globe-girdling mid-ocean ridge system 鈥� a continuous, 70,000 km (43,500 miles) long submarine volcanic mountain range stretching around the world like the strings on a baseball, and where about 70 percent of the planet’s volcanic activity occurs. The highly energetic Axial Seamount, Delaney said, is viewed by many scientists as being representative of the myriad processes operating continuously along the powerful subsea volcanic chain that is present in every ocean.

“This exciting sequence of events documented by the OOI-Cabled Array at Axial Seamount gives us an entirely new view of how our planet works,” said , division director for ocean sciences at the National Science Foundation. “Although the OOI-Cabled Array is not yet fully operational, even with these preliminary observations we can see how the power of innovative instrumentation has the potential to teach us new things about volcanism, earthquakes and other vitally important scientific phenomena.”

The full set of instruments in the deep-sea observatory is scheduled to come online this year. A first maintenance cruise leaves from the UW in early July, and will let researchers and students further explore the aftermath of the volcanic activity.

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For more information, contact Delaney at 206-543-5059 or jdelaney@uw.edu. See also a from Oregon State University. Read previous UW Today articles about the observatory .

Follow expedition in August

Starting the second week of August, check for images and updates from the Visions11 ocean expedition involving undergraduates, graduate students and researchers on board the UWs research vessel Thomas G. Thompson. Between Aug. 11 to Sept. 1 expedition goers will explore, map and sample as part of the regional scale nodes project.

Submarine cables for the nations first made landfall last week on the Oregon coast.

The cables eventually will provide power, transmit instructions and carry data back to scientists and the public from instruments installed across miles of seafloor and in the ocean.

Natural phenomena that occur throughout the worlds oceans will be studied, according to UW oceanography professor John , director and principal investigator of the regional scale nodes project, one part of the U.S. .

“The regional cable network will enable scientists to conduct local investigations of such global processes as climate-influencing ocean currents, active earthquake zones, creation of new seafloor and rich environments of marine plants and animals,鈥� he said.

Delaney, Pete , the projects chief operating officer, and Michael , associate director for operations, were among the UW staff on hand when the first cable landed.

“The horn on the backhoe blasted and someone shouted, 鈥楾he cable has landed!鈥� UWs Nancy Penrose, communications coordinator for the project. “With that the southern segment of the cable emerged at the shore end of the conduit pipe at 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday, July 12, in Pacific City.

“And ocean science history was made.鈥�

Two cables were landed last week and a cable-laying ship will work the rest of the summer to finish extending them underwater from shore to research areas off the coast.

The cable that landed July 12 will eventually extend 75 miles (120 kilometers) out to , a place with cold undersea vents that are lush with life, and associated with deposits of gas hydrates, mainly methane. Among other things, scientists are trying to determine if theres energy that might be extracted, or if the methane might pose an environmental threat as a potential contributor to climate change. A loop on the cable will support instruments for a led in part by Oregon State University.

The second cable, that landed July 15, will extend 310 miles (500 kilometers) to , the most robust volcanic system on the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Its there that scientists hope, among other things, to better understand how submarine volcanoes support life in the absence of sunlight.

, the firm hired to install the cables, should complete the work by the end of August, Barletto said. Although the crew with TE SubCom routinely lands cable, Penrose wrote in her blog that, “for those of us involved with the project it was a thrilling and emotional moment to achieve this milestone.鈥�

Next spring, plans are to begin deploying the connecting to the cable segments, Barletto said. Instruments, sensors and moorings will eventually plug into the nodes. The UW has contracted with Inc. of Goleta, Calif., to design and build the regional scale nodes projects primary infrastructure.

July 13, the day after the first cable landing, an audience of some 200 people packed an open house at the Kiawanda Community Center in Pacific City to hear about the Ocean Observatories Initiative. Visitors viewed displays and underwater footage and heard a presentation by Delaney. A local citizens group, the Nestucca Valley Community Alliance, is looking to the regional scale nodes project as one way to increase interest and opportunities in science education for local students.

The Ocean Observatories Initiative, funded by the , will create a networked system to make ocean and seafloor measurements on , regional 鈥� the part led by the UW 鈥� and scales. A fourth concerns public engagement.

The initiative is managed through the , based in Washington, D.C., a group that includes the nations top oceanographic institutions.

“With the of the Ocean Observatories Initiative undersea cable we see connection of a tangible piece of the OOIs unique infrastructure that will bring to shore data from multiple sensors and instruments
and change the way we conduct ocean observations for decades to come,鈥� said Tim , vice president and director of ocean observing for the consortium.

“This is a significant step forward and moves us closer to our goal of providing the sustained observations needed to help us better understand and manage our oceans.鈥�

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For more information, start with:
Penrose, 206-221-5781, penrose@ocean.washington.edu