Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Explosive volcanism on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge, Arctic Ocean

Abstract

Roughly 60% of the Earth’s outer surface is composed of oceanic crust formed by volcanic processes at mid-ocean ridges. Although only a small fraction of this vast volcanic terrain has been visually surveyed or sampled, the available evidence suggests that explosive eruptions are rare on mid-ocean ridges, particularly at depths below the critical point for seawater (3,000 m)1. A pyroclastic deposit has never been observed on the sea floor below 3,000 m, presumably because the volatile content of mid-ocean-ridge basalts is generally too low to produce the gas fractions required for fragmenting a magma at such high hydrostatic pressure. We employed new deep submergence technologies during an International Polar Year expedition to the Gakkel ridge in the Arctic Basin at 85° E, to acquire photographic and video images of ‘zero-age’ volcanic terrain on this remote, ice-covered ridge. Here we present images revealing that the axial valley at 4,000 m water depth is blanketed with unconsolidated pyroclastic deposits, including bubble wall fragments (limu o Pele)2, covering a large (>10 km2) area. At least 13.5 wt% CO2 is necessary to fragment magma at these depths3, which is about tenfold the highest values previously measured in a mid-ocean-ridge basalt4. These observations raise important questions about the accumulation and discharge of magmatic volatiles at ultraslow spreading rates on the Gakkel ridge5 and demonstrate that large-scale pyroclastic activity is possible along even the deepest portions of the global mid-ocean ridge volcanic system.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Detailed bathymetry (30 m grid spacing) of the Gakkel ridge at 85° E in the Arctic Ocean.
Figure 2: Photographs of pyroclastic deposits.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. White, J. D. L., Smellie, J. L. & Clague, D. A. in Explosive Subaqueous Volcanism (eds White, J. D. L., Smellie, J. L. & Clague, D. A.) 1–24 (American Geophysical Union, Washington DC, 2003)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Hon, K., Heliker, C. C. & Kjargaard, J. I. Limu o Pele: A new kind of hydroclastic tephra from Kilauea Volcano. Hawai’i Geol. Soc. Am. Abst. Prog. 20, A112–A113 (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Head, J. W. I. & Wilson, L. Deep submarine pyroclastic eruptions: theory and predicted landforms and deposits. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 121, 155–193 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Javoy, M. & Pineau, F. The volatiles record of a ‘popping’ rock from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 14°N: Chemical and isotopic composition of gas trapped in the vesicles. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 107, 598–611 (1991)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Sella, G. F., Dixon, T. H. & Mao, A. REVEL: A model for recent plate velocities from space geodesy. J. Geophys. Res. 107 10.1029/2000JB000033 (2002)

  6. Mueller, C. & Jokat, W. Seismic evidence for volcanic activity discovered in central Arctic. Eos 81, 265–269 (2000)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Tolstoy, M., Bohnenstiehl, D. R., Edwards, M. H. & Kurras, G. J. Seismic character of volcanic activity at the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel Ridge. Geology 29, 1139–1142 (2001)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Edwards, M. H. et al. Evidence of recent volcanic activity on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge. Nature 409, 808–812 (2001)

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Edmonds, H. N. et al. Discovery of abundant hydrothermal venting on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge in the Arctic Ocean. Nature 421, 252–256 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Graham, D. W. et al. Helium-3, methane, and manganese in water column hydrothermal plumes along the ultra-slow spreading Gakkel Ridge, Arctic Ocean. Ofioliti 31, 234–235 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Clague, D. A., Davis, A. S., Bischoff, J. L., Dixon, H. E. & Geyer, R. Lava bubble-wall fragments formed by submarine hydrovolcanic explosions on Loihi Seamount and Kilauea Volcano. Volcano Bull. Volcanol. 61, 437–449 (2000)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Eissen, J.-P., Fouquet, Y., Hardy, D. & Ondreas, H. in Explosive Subaqueous Volcanism (eds White, J. D. L., Smellie, J. L. & Clague, D. A.) 143–166 (American Geophysical Union, Washington DC, 2003)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  13. Fouquet, Y. et al. Extensive volcaniclastic deposits at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge axis; results of deep-water basaltic explosive volcanic activity? Terra Nova 10, 280–286 (1998)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Hekinian, R. et al. Deep sea explosive activity on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 34° 50′ N: Magma composition, vesicularity, and volatile content. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 98, 49–77 (2000)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Clague, D. A., Davis, A. S. & Dixon, J. E. in Explosive Subaqueous Volcanism (eds White, J. D. L., Smellie, J. L. & Clague, D. A.) 111–128 (American Geophysical Union, Washington DC, 2003)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  16. Clague, D. A., Uto, K., Satake, K. & Davis, A. S. in Hawaiian Volcanoes: Deep Underwater Perspectives (eds Takahashi, E., Lipman, P. W., Garcia, M. O., Naka, J. & Aramaki, S.) 65–84 (American Geophysical Union, Washington DC, 2002)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  17. Sparks, R. S. J. The dynamics of bubble formation and growth in magmas: A review and analysis. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 3, 1–37 (1978)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Bottinga, Y. & Javoy, M. Mid-ocean ridge basalt degassing: Bubble nucleation. J. Geophys. Res. 95, 5125–5131 (1990)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Schlindwein, V., Müller, C. & Jokat, W. Seismoacoustic evidence for volcanic activity on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel Ridge, Arctic Ocean. Geophys. Res. Lett. 32 10.1029/2005GL023767 (2005)

  20. Dick, H. J. B., Lin, J. & Schouten, H. An ultraslow-spreading class of ocean ridge. Nature 426, 405–412 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Michael, P. J. et al. Magmatism and amagmatic seafloor generation at the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge, Arctic Ocean. Nature 423, 956–961 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Wessel, P. & Smith, W. H. F. Free software helps map and display data. Eos 72, 441 (1991)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Shank, T. M. et al. Biological and geological characteristics of the Gakkel Ridge. Eos 88, abstr. OS41C–08 (2007)

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank D. Clague and J. Head for reviews that improved the final manuscript, the Advanced Imaging Laboratory at WHOI for technical support and the crew of icebreaker Oden for technical support at sea. This research was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Author Contributions R.A.S. was the chief scientist of the Arctic Gakkel Vents Expedition and wrote the paper. H.S., T.M.S, S.H. and C.W. collected the dive imagery. T.M.S., S.H., C.W. and A.S. analysed the dive imagery. M.J. processed the bathymetric data. H.N.E., C.K., U.H., E.H., M.J., B.L., J.L., C.M., K.N., T.S., V.S, C.S., M.T., L.U. and P.W. provided technical and scientific support at sea. All authors discussed the results and provided input to the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert A. Sohn.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sohn, R., Willis, C., Humphris, S. et al. Explosive volcanism on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge, Arctic Ocean. Nature 453, 1236–1238 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07075

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07075

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing