Asymmetric magma plumbing system beneath Axial Seamount based on full waveform inversion of seismic data

The architecture of magma plumbing systems plays a fundamental role in volcano eruption and evolution. However, the precise configuration of crustal magma reservoirs and conduits responsible for supplying eruptions are difficult to explore across most active volcanic systems. Consequently, our understanding of their correlation with eruption dynamics is limited. Axial Seamount is an active submarine volcano located along the Juan de Fuca Ridge, with known eruptions in 1998, 2011, and 2015. Here we present high-resolution images of P-wave velocity, attenuation, and estimates of temperature and partial melt beneath the summit of Axial Seamount, derived from multi-parameter full waveform inversion of a 2D multi-channel seismic line. Multiple magma reservoirs, including a newly discovered western magma reservoir, are identified in the upper crust, with the maximum melt fraction of ~15-32% in the upper main magma reservoir (MMR) and lower fractions of 10% to 26% in other satellite reservoirs. In addition, a feeding conduit below the MMR with a melt fraction of ~4-11% and a low-velocity throat beneath the eastern caldera wall connecting the MMR roof with eruptive fissures are imaged. These findings delineate an asymmetric shallow plumbing system beneath Axial Seamount, providing insights into the magma pathways that fed recent eruptions.

Beyond spreading rate: Controls on the thermal regime of mid-ocean ridges

The thermal state of mid-ocean ridges exerts a crucial modulation on seafloor spreading processes that shape ~2/3 of our planet's surface. Standard thermal models treat the ridge axis as a steady-state boundary layer between the hydrosphere and asthenosphere, whose thermal structure primarily reflects the local spreading rate. This framework explains the deepening of axial melt lenses (AMLs)-a proxy for the basaltic solidus isotherm-from ~1 to ~3 km from fast- to intermediate-spreading ridges but fails to account for shallow crustal AMLs documented at slow-ultraslow spreading ridges. Here, we show that these can be explained by a numerical model that decouples the potentially transient ridge magma supply from spreading rate, captures the essential physics of hydrothermal convection, and considers multiple modes of melt emplacement. Our simulations show that melt flux is a better thermal predictor than spreading rate. While multiple combinations of melt/dike emplacement modes, permeability structure, and temporal fluctuations of melt supply can explain shallow crustal AMLs at slow-ultraslow ridges, they all require elevated melt fluxes compared to most ridge sections of comparable spreading rates. This highlights the importance of along-axis melt focusing at slow-ultraslow ridges and sheds light on the natural variability of their thermal regimes.

Insights into dike nucleation and eruption dynamics from high-resolution seismic imaging of magmatic system at the East Pacific Rise

Models of magmatic systems suggest that the architecture of crustal magma bodies plays an important role in where volcanic eruptions occur, but detailed field observations are needed to evaluate them. We present ultrahigh-resolution reflection images of magma bodies beneath a region of multiple eruptions along the East Pacific Rise derived from three-dimensional seismic surveying. The observations reveal magma bodies with elongate ridges and troughs vertically aligned with seafloor eruptive fissures that we interpret as remnant dike root zones where repeat dikes nucleate. We document a triangular feeder zone to the axially centered magma body from the off-axis source for a newly forming seamount of the Lamont chain and infer bottom-up eruption triggering due to recharge from this deeper source. The findings indicate that magma bodies are sculpted by both processes of magma recharge from below and magma extraction to the surface, leaving a morphological imprint that contributes to localization of dike nucleation and eruption sites at the East Pacific Rise.

Three-dimensional magnetic stripes require slow cooling in fast-spread lower ocean crust

Earth's magnetic field is recorded as oceanic crust cools, generating lineated magnetic anomalies that provide the pattern of polarity reversals for the past 160 million years¹. In the lower (gabbroic) crust, polarity interval boundaries are proxies for isotherms that constrain cooling and hence crustal accretion. Seismic observations^2-4, geospeedometry^5-7 and thermal modelling^8-10 of fast-spread crust yield conflicting interpretations of where and how heat is lost near the ridge, a sensitive indicator of processes of melt transport and crystallization within the crust. Here we show that the magnetic structure of magmatically robust fast-spread crust requires that crustal temperatures near the dike-gabbro transition remain at approximately 500 degrees Celsius for 0.1 million years. Near-bottom magnetization solutions over two areas, separated by approximately 8 kilometres, highlight subhorizontal polarity boundaries within 200 metres of the dike-gabbro transition that extend 7-8 kilometres off-axis. Oriented samples with multiple polarity components provide direct confirmation of a corresponding horizontal polarity boundary across an area approximately one kilometre wide, and indicate slow cooling over three polarity intervals. Our results are incompatible with deep hydrothermal cooling within a few kilometres of the axis^2,7 and instead suggest a broad, hot axial zone that extends roughly 8 kilometres off-axis in magmatically robust fast-spread ocean crust.

Evolution of the Crustal and Upper Mantle Seismic Structure From 0-27 Ma in the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean at 2° 43'S

We present seismic tomographic results from a unique seismic refraction and wide-angle survey along a 600 km long flow-line corridor of oceanic lithosphere ranging in age from 0 to 27 Ma in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean at 2° 43'S. The velocities in the crust near the ridge axis rapidly increase in the first 6 Myr and then change gradually with age. The upper crust (Layer 2) thickness varies between 2 and 2.4 km with an average thickness of 2.2 km and the crustal thickness varies from 5.6 to 6 km along the profile with an average crustal thickness of 5.8 km. At some locations, we observe negative velocity anomalies (∼-0.3 km/s) in the lower crust which could be either due to chemical heterogeneity in gabbroic rocks and/or the effects of fault related deformation zones leading to an increase in porosities up to 1.6% depending on the pore/crack geometry. The existence of a low velocity anomaly beneath the ridge axis suggests the presence of partial melt (∼1.3%) in the lower crust. Upper mantle velocities also remain low (∼7.8 km/s) from ridge axis up to 5 Ma, indicating a high temperature regime associated with mantle melting zone underneath. These results suggest that the evolution of the crust and uppermost mantle at this location occur in the first 10 Ma of its formation and then remains unchanged. Most of the structures in the older crust and upper mantle are fossilized structures and could provide information about past processes at ocean spreading centers.

Brine Formation and Mobilization in Submarine Hydrothermal Systems: Insights from a Novel Multiphase Hydrothermal Flow Model in the System H2O–NaCl

Numerical models have become indispensable tools for investigating submarine hydrothermal systems and for relating seafloor observations to physicochemical processes at depth. Particularly useful are multiphase models that account for phase separation phenomena, so that model predictions can be compared to observed variations in vent fluid salinity. Yet, the numerics of multiphase flow remain a challenge. Here we present a novel hydrothermal flow model for the system H2O–NaCl able to resolve multiphase flow over the full range of pressure, temperature, and salinity variations that are relevant to submarine hydrothermal systems. The method is based on a 2-D finite volume scheme that uses a Newton–Raphson algorithm to couple the governing conservation equations and to treat the non-linearity of the fluid properties. The method uses pressure, specific fluid enthalpy, and bulk fluid salt content as primary variables, is not bounded to the Courant time step size, and allows for a direct control of how accurately mass and energy conservation is ensured. In a first application of this new model, we investigate brine formation and mobilization in hydrothermal systems driven by a transient basal temperature boundary condition—analogue to seawater circulation systems found at mid-ocean ridges. We find that basal heating results in the rapid formation of a stable brine layer that thermally insulates the driving heat source. While this brine layer is stable under steady-state conditions, it can be mobilized as a consequence of variations in heat input leading to brine entrainment and the venting of highly saline fluids.

Consequences of a crystal mush-dominated magma plumbing system: a mid-ocean ridge perspective

Crystal mush is rapidly emerging as a new paradigm for the evolution of igneous systems. Mid-ocean ridges provide a unique opportunity to study mush processes: geophysical data indicate that, even at the most magmatically robust fast-spreading ridges, the magma plumbing system typically comprises crystal mush. In this paper, we describe some of the consequences of crystal mush for the evolution of the mid-ocean ridge magmatic system. One of these is that melt migration by porous flow plays an important role, in addition to rapid, channelized flow. Facilitated by both buoyancy and (deformation-enhanced) compaction, porous flow leads to reactions between the mush and migrating melts. Reactions between melt and the surrounding crystal framework are also likely to occur upon emplacement of primitive melts into the mush. Furthermore, replenishment facilitates mixing between the replenishing melt and interstitial melts of the mush. Hence, crystal mushes facilitate reaction and mixing, which leads to significant homogenization, and which may account for the geochemical systematics of mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB). A second consequence is cryptic fractionation. At mid-ocean ridges, a plagioclase framework may already have formed when clinopyroxene saturates. As a result, clinopyroxene phenocrysts are rare, despite the fact that the vast majority of MORB records clinopyroxene fractionation. Hence, melts extracted from crystal mush may show a cryptic fractionation signature. Another consequence of a mush-dominated plumbing system is that channelized flow of melts through the crystal mush leads to the occurrence of vertical magmatic fabrics in oceanic gabbros, as well as the entrainment of diverse populations of phenocrysts. Overall, we conclude that the occurrence of crystal mush has a number of fundamental implications for the behaviour and evolution of magmatic systems, and that mid-ocean ridges can serve as a useful template for trans-crustal mush columns elsewhere. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Magma reservoir architecture and dynamics'.

Hybrid shallow on-axis and deep off-axis hydrothermal circulation at fast-spreading ridges

Hydrothermal flow at oceanic spreading centres accounts for about ten per cent of all heat flux in the oceans and controls the thermal structure of young oceanic plates. It also influences ocean and crustal chemistry, provides a basis for chemosynthetic ecosystems, and has formed massive sulphide ore deposits throughout Earth's history. Despite this, how and under what conditions heat is extracted, in particular from the lower crust, remains largely unclear. Here we present high-resolution, whole-crust, two- and three-dimensional simulations of hydrothermal flow beneath fast-spreading ridges that predict the existence of two interacting flow components, controlled by different physical mechanisms, that merge above the melt lens to feed ridge-centred vent sites. Shallow on-axis flow structures develop owing to the thermodynamic properties of water, whereas deeper off-axis flow is strongly shaped by crustal permeability, particularly the brittle-ductile transition. About 60 per cent of the discharging fluid mass is replenished on-axis by warm (up to 300 degrees Celsius) recharge flow surrounding the hot thermal plumes, and the remaining 40 per cent or so occurs as colder and broader recharge up to several kilometres away from the axis that feeds hot (500-700 degrees Celsius) deep-rooted off-axis flow towards the ridge. Despite its lower contribution to the total mass flux, this deep off-axis flow carries about 70 per cent of the thermal energy released at the ridge axis. This combination of two flow components explains the seismically determined thermal structure of the crust and reconciles previously incompatible models favouring either shallower on-axis or deeper off-axis hydrothermal circulation.

Seismic reflection images of a near-axis melt sill within the lower crust at the Juan de Fuca ridge

The oceanic crust extends over two-thirds of the Earth's solid surface, and is generated along mid-ocean ridges from melts derived from the upwelling mantle. The upper and middle crust are constructed by dyking and sea-floor eruptions originating from magma accumulated in mid-crustal lenses at the spreading axis, but the style of accretion of the lower oceanic crust is actively debated. Models based on geological and petrological data from ophiolites propose that the lower oceanic crust is accreted from melt sills intruded at multiple levels between the Moho transition zone (MTZ) and the mid-crustal lens, consistent with geophysical studies that suggest the presence of melt within the lower crust. However, seismic images of molten sills within the lower crust have been elusive. Until now, only seismic reflections from mid-crustal melt lenses and sills within the MTZ have been described, suggesting that melt is efficiently transported through the lower crust. Here we report deep crustal seismic reflections off the southern Juan de Fuca ridge that we interpret as originating from a molten sill at present accreting the lower oceanic crust. The sill sits 5-6 km beneath the sea floor and 850-900 m above the MTZ, and is located 1.4-3.2 km off the spreading axis. Our results provide evidence for the existence of low-permeability barriers to melt migration within the lower section of modern oceanic crust forming at intermediate-to-fast spreading rates, as inferred from ophiolite studies.

Skew of mantle upwelling beneath the East Pacific Rise governs segmentation

Mantle upwelling is essential to the generation of new oceanic crust at mid-ocean ridges, and it is generally assumed that such upwelling is symmetric beneath active ridges. Here, however, we use seismic imaging to show that the isotropic and anisotropic structure of the mantle is rotated beneath the East Pacific Rise. The isotropic structure defines the pattern of magma delivery from the mantle to the crust. We find that the segmentation of the rise crest between transform faults correlates well with the distribution of mantle melt. The azimuth of seismic anisotropy constrains the direction of mantle flow, which is rotated nearly 10 degrees anticlockwise from the plate-spreading direction. The mismatch between the locus of mantle melt delivery and the morphologic ridge axis results in systematic differences between areas of on-axis and off-axis melt supply. We conclude that the skew of asthenospheric upwelling and transport governs segmentation of the East Pacific Rise and variations in the intensity of ridge crest processes.

Seismic reflection images of the Moho underlying melt sills at the East Pacific Rise

The determination of melt distribution in the crust and the nature of the crust-mantle boundary (the 'Moho') is fundamental to the understanding of crustal accretion processes at oceanic spreading centres. Upper-crustal magma chambers have been imaged beneath fast- and intermediate-spreading centres but it has been difficult to image structures beneath these magma sills. Using three-dimensional seismic reflection images, here we report the presence of Moho reflections beneath a crustal magma chamber at the 9 degrees 03' N overlapping spreading centre, East Pacific Rise. Our observations highlight the formation of the Moho at zero-aged crust. Over a distance of less than 7 km along the ridge crest, a rapid increase in two-way travel time of seismic waves between the magma chamber and Moho reflections is observed, which we suggest is due to a melt anomaly in the lower crust. The amplitude versus offset variation of reflections from the magma chamber shows a coincident region of higher melt fraction overlying this anomalous region, supporting the conclusion of additional melt at depth.

Modes of faulting at mid-ocean ridges

Abyssal-hill-bounding faults that pervade the oceanic crust are the most common tectonic feature on the surface of the Earth. The recognition that these faults form at plate spreading centres came with the plate tectonic revolution. Recent observations reveal a large range of fault sizes and orientations; numerical models of plate separation, dyke intrusion and faulting require at least two distinct mechanisms of fault formation at ridges to explain these observations. Plate unbending with distance from the top of an axial high reproduces the observed dip directions and offsets of faults formed at fast-spreading centres. Conversely, plate stretching, with differing amounts of constant-rate magmatic dyke intrusion, can explain the great variety of fault offset seen at slow-spreading ridges. Very-large-offset normal faults only form when about half the plate separation at a ridge is accommodated by dyke intrusion.

Magma storage beneath Axial volcano on the Juan de Fuca mid-ocean ridge

Axial volcano, which is located near the intersection of the Juan de Fuca ridge and the Cobb-Eickelberg seamount chain beneath the northeast Pacific Ocean, is a locus of volcanic activity thought to be associated with the Cobb hotspot. The volcano rises 700 metres above the ridge, has substantial rift zones extending about 50 kilometres to the north and south, and has erupted as recently as 1998 (ref. 2). Here we present seismological data that constrain the three-dimensional velocity structure beneath the volcano. We image a large low-velocity zone in the crust, consisting of a shallow magma chamber and a more diffuse reservoir in the lower crust, and estimate the total magma volume in the system to be between 5 and 21 km3. This volume is two orders of magnitude larger than the amount of melt emplaced during the most recent eruption (0.1-0.2 km3). We therefore infer that such volcanic events remove only a small portion of the reservoir that they tap, which must accordingly be long-lived compared to the eruption cycle. On the basis of magma flux estimates, we estimate the crustal residence time of melt in the volcanic system to be a few hundred to a few thousand years.

Continuous mantle melt supply beneath an overlapping spreading center on the East Pacific Rise

Tomographic images of upper mantle velocity structure beneath an overlapping spreading center (OSC) on the East Pacific Rise indicate that this ridge axis discontinuity is underlain by a continuous region of low P-wave velocities. The anomalous structure can be explained by an approximately 16-kilometer-wide region of high temperatures and melt fractions of a few percent by volume. Our results show that OSCs are not necessarily associated with a discontinuity in melt supply and that both OSC limbs are supplied with melt from a mantle source located beneath the OSC. We conclude that tectonic segmentation of the ridge by OSCs is not the direct result of magmatic segmentation at mantle depths.