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Fire in the sea - Growth and destruction of submarine volcanoes

Article  in  Geology · March 2013

DOI: 10.1130/focus0320132.1

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Fire in the sea—Growth and destruction of submarine volcanoes

Hans-Ulrich Schmincke and Mari Sumita
GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel,Wischhofstrasse 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany

The appearance of a steaming volcano close to the sea surface rep- volcanoes in general, have vastly larger volumes. For example, during the
resents a rare but spectacular geological event, because the birth of a new El Golfo debris avalanche, ~50–180 km3 of material was moved (Masson
volcano vividly illustrates the steady yet piecemeal growth of the Earth’s et al., 2002), the equivalent of ~500 of the volcanic structures of the type
crust; and its simultaneous destruction. emplaced in 2011–2012 on El Hierro (Rivera et al., 2013).
Every volcanic eruption on land generates a quantum jump in our All eruptions of submarine volcanoes are, as expected, accompanied
understanding of growth and destructive processes of volcanoes, but this is by seismic swarms, with the largest earthquake swarm in the Hawaiian
even more true underwater, although eruptions typically occur hidden from Islands, in July and August 1996, occurring on Loihi seamount several
view. Loihi Seamount, ~35 km off the southeast coast of the Big Island of months after pyroclastic activity, during the collapse of the Pele’s Pit cra-
Hawaii, has for many years been an instructive example. The broad range ter (Davis and Clague, 1998; Garcia et al., 2006). Most small (M <2.5)
in composition of its basalts greatly changed views of the compositional earthquakes on El Hierro started on 19 July 2011 along a north-south–
evolution of Hawaii and other oceanic islands, and led to the discovery oriented belt at 8–15 km depths (Ibáñez et al., 2012; Lopez et al., 2012).
of a range of volcaniclastic products, from glassy ash to basalt breccias Seismicity migrated south during the second half of September, increas-
(Garcia et al., 1998; Clague et al., 2003). Loihi experienced an eruption in ing in magnitude and peaking with an M 4.4 earthquake on 8 October at
1996, followed by massive collapse of its top, but this top is located almost 14 km, followed on 12 October by continuous tremor, reflecting rapid
1000 m below sea level, making regular, detailed observations difficult to rise of the magma to the surface, water discoloration, and steaming vesicu-
almost impossible, if only because of the very high costs. The top of the lar volcanic bombs floating on the water, ~2 km south of the village of
active submarine volcano Monowai in the Kermadec Arc (north of New La Restinga in the south of El Hierro. Ibañez et al. (2012) infered that
Zealand) rises episodically close to the water surface, changing rapidly the initial earthquakes reflected magma migration from the upper mantle
(weeks to decades) in elevation by tens of meters, because of repeated to crustal depths, where high fracturing would favor anomalously high
episodes of volcano growth and rapid flank collapse (Wright et al., 2008; b-values of the frequency-magnitude distribution of up to 2.25 (b-values
Watts et al., 2012). Growth and collapse rates at Monowai were very high, in volcanic regions sometimes reaching 3). The larger-magnitude earth-
with the volume changes calculated as 0.11 km3 yr-1 for collapse, and quakes with lower b-values (1.25) are interpreted by Ibañez et al. (2012)
0.63 km3 yr-1 for growth. The 2011 lava eruption of Axial Seamount at to reflect relaxation around the magma reservoir.
the intersection between the Cobb hotspot and the Juan de Fuca spread- Monitoring of diffusive degassing is important for volcanic sur-
ing center had been forecast, based on detailed monitoring following its veillance. At the beginning of the seismic activity, magma movement
eruption in 1998 (Chadwick et al., 2012). Active Vailuluù Seamount close beneath El Hierro generated new fractures and microfractures, causing
to the Samoa hot spot (present depth 590 m) is growing so fast that it may anomalously high, but diffuse, deep-seated degassing on land prior to
reach the surface within decades (Staudigel et al., 2006). the submarine eruption (Pérez et al., 2012). Helium ascended from depth
The 2011–2012 submarine El Hierro (Canary Islands) eruption dif- through structures of high vertical permeability, thereby enhancing the
fers from the previous examples in the Pacific Ocean by having grown on helium content of soil gases, and with an increase in mantle-derived
the upper flank of an oceanic island close to land, allowing convenient gases recorded by the 3He/4He ratio preceding seismic energy release
monitoring. Many published and ongoing studies make this eruption (Pádrón et al., 2013).
unique. El Hierro is the youngest (1.12 ± 0.02 Ma) and smallest of the Curious steaming bombs of highly vesicular scoriaceous basalt
seven major islands of the Canarian archipelago (Guillou et al., 1996). floated in the turbulent, turbid whirlpool above the submarine vent off
A shallow submarine eruption occurred between 12 October 2011 and 5 Restinga, and resembled bombs from shallow-water submarine eruptions
March 2012, ~2 km off the southern coast of the island, just offshore the in the Azores (Gaspar et al., 2003) and Socorro Island (off Mexico) (Siebe
sites of prehistoric eruptions dated at ca. 4000 yr B.P. and 2500 yr B.P. et al., 1995). The balloons soon collapsed and fragmented, fragments sink-
The proximity to land and the shallow depth (the new volcanoes rose from ing to the bottom within a few tens of minutes. Deposits composed of
a depth of 363 m and finally reached 89 m below mean sea level [bmsl]) irregularly shaped, commonly curved, fragments of vesicular basalt are
provide a unique opportunity to study precursor phenomena on land prior well-exposed in the upper part of the uplifted seamount complex of La
to and during the eruption, and to repeat surveys across the eruptive sites. Palma Island just north of El Hierro, and were interpreted as reflecting
Eight swath bathymetry surveys were carried from 22 October 2011 to the growth of the seamount to near the surface (Staudigel and Schmincke,
24 February 2012 by Rivera et al. (2013, p. 355 in this issue of Geology). 1984; Schmincke and Sumita, 2010, their figures 4.20–4.23).
Most remarkable are the continuous changes in form and height of the new Many bombs consist of highly vesicular white cores mixed with, and
volcano, changing from a single cone into a linear array of four cones over surrounded by, black basanitic crusts, the composition and origin of the
4 mo. Collapse of the edifice accompanied the rise of the volcanic structure white enigmatic material being hotly debated. At issue was not the old
from the start, with streams of debris moving down the valley in which the question of whether or not the Canary Islands are underlain by continental
new volcano was growing. The total volume of the volcanic complex was or oceanic crust; the latter underlies all of the archipelago (Schmincke
calculated as 329 × 106 m3, with the actual cone making up one third of et al., 1998). However, one of the fundamental differences between the
this bulk volume. More than 200 similar cones have been identified on the Canaries and most other oceanic islands including Hawaii is the huge vol-
submarine flanks of El Hierro by Rivera et al., the largest with volumes ume of highly evolved magmas generated beneath Tenerife, and especially
of >1000 × 106 m3. The practically simultaneous episodes of collapse of beneath Gran Canaria, where possibly as much as 1000 km3 of rhyolitic
the flanks were most interesting to monitor, but the large flank collapses to phonolitic ignimbrites were erupted and intruded from a 20-km-diam-
known from all Canary Islands, as well as from other oceanic islands and eter caldera between 14 and 9 Ma (Schmincke and Sumita, 2010), with

GEOLOGY, March 2013; v. 41; no. 3; p. 381–382 | doi: 10.1130/focus0320132.1

GEOLOGY | March
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Geology

Fire in the sea−−Growth and destruction of submarine volcanoes

Hans-Ulrich Schmincke and Mari Sumita

Geology 2013;41;381-382
doi: 10.1130/focus0320132.1

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