Catching the Next Eruption of Axial Seamount

Theresa Sawi, a PhD student in Columbia’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, shares her reflections and more about the science behind a six-day research expedition to Axial Seamount. She gives a behind the scenes look as researchers from Columbia University on the R/V Marcus G Langseth deployed 15 autonomous ocean-bottom seismometers atop Axial Seamount, a submarine volcano in the northeast Pacific Ocean that erupted in 1998, 2011, and 2015. The research expedition was part of a two-year experiment taking place within the predicted time window of the next eruption.

The seismometers were added to OOI’s Regional Cabled Array. To read Sawi’s account, click here.

15 scientists were onboard the Langseth, with ranks ranging from professor to undergraduate researcher. Credit: Theresa Sawi.