2019 journal article

Acoustic evidence of a long-lived gas-driven submarine volcanic eruption in the Bismarck Sea

GEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, 217(1), 169–178.

By: T. Crone* & D. Bohnenstiehl n

co-author countries: United States of America 🇺🇸
author keywords: Submarine tectonics and volcanism; Explosive volcanism; Volcano monitoring
Source: Web Of Science
Added: June 4, 2019

Understanding the temporal variability of volcanic activity in the deep ocean is critical for estimating the fluxes of heat and chemicals between the lithosphere and the overlying ocean, and for characterizing the relationships between hydrothermal processes and the subseafloor biosphere. Because there is a growing interest in the development of mineral resources in seafloor hydrothermal settings, it is also important to understand the hydroacoustic environment near submarine volcanoes, which could be impacted by mining operations. To evaluate pre-industrialization sound levels at one proposed site of seafloor mining, a deep-sea hydrophone recording system was deployed for a period of 5 months in the Manus Basin, Bismarck Sea, in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea. During the deployment the system recorded evidence of a long-lived (∼60-d) gas-driven explosive volcanic eruption. The signals observed were similar to those recorded at two other backarc volcanoes (West Mata and NW Rota-1), and considering the recent geological history of the region, are likely related to the continued growth of a volcanic cryptodome on the south side of North Su volcano. The data show that eruptive events can start and stop abruptly, can last for months, and can increase the local RMS sound pressure levels by about 12 dB on average. The estimated average acoustic source power of the volcanic eruption is roughly equivalent to that of a large commercial shipping vessel.