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Observing and interpreting seafloor tilt at Axial Seamount
  • +5
  • Erik Fredrickson,
  • William Wilcock,
  • Christian Baillard,
  • Michael Harrington,
  • Geoff Cram,
  • James Tilley,
  • William Chadwick,
  • Scott Nooner
Erik Fredrickson
University of Washington

Corresponding Author:erikfred@uw.edu

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William Wilcock
University of Washington
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Christian Baillard
Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris
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Michael Harrington
Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington
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Geoff Cram
University of Washington
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James Tilley
University of Washington
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William Chadwick
Oregon State University
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Scott Nooner
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
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Abstract

Measurements of ground tilt are a critical geodetic tool for monitoring active volcanoes because they provide multidimensional data that can resolve complex deformation signals. We are developing a Self-Calibrating Tilt Accelerometer (SCTA) for use in the marine environment and present results from two deployments: on land at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Cecil and Ida Green Piñon Flat Observatory and on the seafloor at Axial Seamount on the Juan de Fuca Ridge. The SCTA utilizes a Quartz Sensor Solutions triaxial accelerometer on a gimbal system to periodically rotate the horizontal channels into the vertical to calibrate against the local g vector, achieving high precision and stability within 1 microradian. The SCTA tiltmeter has the added benefit of simultaneously measuring ground accelerations and recording seismic signals. We compare the SCTA performance at the center of the summit caldera at Axial Seamount against a co-located Jewell Instruments LILY tiltmeter on the OOI Cabled Array. The tilt measurements in one direction are consistent, but the data suggest that the deployment platform for the SCTA may be settling in the other direction. We are using data from the ensemble of 4 cabled pressure sensors and 5 tilt sensors at Axial, including the SCTA, to study its inflation behavior since its eruption in 2015. We have identified several significant, cm-scale deflation events of durations of tens of days. The tilt and relative elevations of instrument sites are asymmetric about their turning points, suggesting a more complex mechanism than a simple inflation reversal. We are conducting forward modeling of the deformation signals to determine if the geodetic signals are consistent with differential slip rates, normalized to the rate of inflation/deflation, on the caldera’s outwardly dipping ring faults between these periods. Another plausible mechanism that we plan to investigate is the lateral transport of magma from beneath the southern caldera to either the northern caldera or to a secondary reservoir, located 5 km to the east. These deflation events are potentially important for understanding the mechanisms of magma supply, storage, and transport at Axial Seamount, as well as for accurately forecasting future eruptions, which have been shown to be inflation-predictable.