A physics-based algorithm has been developed for the inversion of multibeam sonar survey data for sediment properties. The algorithm relies on high-frequency acoustical models of seafloor scattering to estimate sediment properties, taking as input the calibrated backscatter intensity time series data for multiple incidence angles. The inversion proceeds in three stages to produce estimates for a suite of geoacoustic and physical parameters of the seafloor, which include sediment attenuation and strengths of interface and volume scattering in the first stage, surface roughness and reflectivity in the second stage, and porosity, density, and sound-speed ratios and mean grain size in the third and final stage. The algorithm uses a Monte-Carlo approach to determine the uncertainties in inversion-derived sediment properties based on the measured statistics of seafloor backscatter. This assessment also takes into account the uncertainties associated with the empirical relations utilized in the final stage of inversion to determine sediment properties from reflectivity. The performance and accuracy of the algorithm have been evaluated through implementation in the processing of field data recorded from Sequim Bay, WA, USA, in 2019. Comparison of inversion output with ground-truth measurements demonstrates the effectiveness and robustness of the algorithm in seafloor characterization with multibeam sonars.

Transient stresses from the passage of seismic waves are known to trigger earthquakes and cause crustal permeability changes. However, whether permeability change is a main driver of dynamic earthquake triggering remains debated. Our understanding of the characteristics of dynamic triggering in submarine volcanic environments is also limited due to the lack of offshore observations. Here, we utilize a high-resolution micro-seismicity catalog from July 2015 to July 2022 to evaluate the triggering response of Axial Seamount, an inflating and seismically active submarine volcano located in the northeast Pacific Ocean. We report statistically significant episodes of dynamic earthquake triggering for ∼18 % of the teleseismic events investigated, which is comparable with subaerial tectonic and volcanic environments. We do not observe any obvious dependence of triggering rate on the amplitude of peak ground velocity. However, a comparison of the triggering rate and the cumulative magma volume shows that the triggering susceptibility might increase as the volcano becomes more critically stressed. Using data recorded by a temperature sensor in a black smoker, we compute the phase lag between hydrothermal vent-fluid temperature and tidal loading amplitude before and after the arrival of teleseismic waves to probe the relationship between permeability change and dynamic triggering. While the energy density thresholds for dynamic earthquake triggering and permeability change are comparable, both triggering and non-triggering observations show similar proportions of permeability changes. Our results suggest that permeability change induced by transient stresses might not be a necessary or primary mechanism that drives dynamic earthquake triggering.

This study investigates the subsurface sound channel or acoustic duct that appears seasonally along the U.S. Pacific Northwest coast below the surface mixed layer. The duct has a significant impact on sound propagation at mid-frequencies by trapping sound energy and reducing transmission loss within the channel. A survey of the sound-speed profiles obtained from archived mooring and glider observations reveals that the duct is more prevalent in summer to fall than in winter to spring and offshore of the shelf break than over the shelf. The occurrence of the subsurface duct is typically associated with the presence of a strong halocline and a reduced thermocline or temperature inversion. Furthermore, the duct observed over the shelf slope corresponds to a vertically sheared along-slope velocity profile, characterized by equatorward near-surface flow overlaying poleward subsurface flow. Two potential duct formation mechanisms are examined in this study, which are seasonal surface heat exchange and baroclinic advection of distinct water masses. The former mechanism regulates the formation of a downward-refracting sound-speed gradient that caps the duct near the sea surface, while the latter contributes to the formation of an upward-refracting sound-speed gradient that defines the duct's lower boundary.

A multiscale numerical framework has been developed to investigate the dispersion of deep-sea hydrothermal plumes that originate from the Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge located in the Northeast Pacific. The analysis of simulation outputs presented in this study provides insights into the influences of tidal forcing and the buoyancy flux associated with hydrothermal venting on ocean circulation and plume dispersion in the presence of pronounced seafloor topography. The results indicate that tidal forcing drives anti-cyclonic circulation near the ridge-axis, while hydrothermal venting induces cyclonic circulation around vent fields within the axial rift valley. Tidal forcing has a notable impact on plume dispersion, particularly near the large topographic features to the north of the Endeavour Segment. Furthermore, plume dispersion exhibits notable inter-annual variability, with a northbound trajectory in 2016 and a southbound trajectory in 2021. The study also reveals that both buoyancy fluxes and tidal forcing enhance the mixing of hydrothermal plumes with ambient seawater.

Previous work using multibeam sonar to map diffuse hydrothermal flows is extended to estimate the heat output of diffuse flows. In the first step toward inversion, temperature statistics are obtained from sonar data and compared to thermistor data in order to set the value of an empirical constant. Finally, a simple model is used to obtain heat-flux density from sonar-derived temperature statistics. The method is applied to data from the Cabled Observatory Vent Imaging Sonar (COVIS) deployed on the Ocean Observatories Initiative's Regional Cabled Array at the ASHES vent field on Axial Seamount. Inversion results are presented as maps of heat-flux density in MW/m² and as time series of heat-flux density averaged over COVIS' field of view.

The Cabled Observatory Vent Imaging Sonar (COVIS) was installed on the Ocean Observatories Initiative's Regional Cabled Array observatory at ASHES hydrothermal vent field on Axial Seamount in July 2018. The acoustic backscatter data recorded by COVIS in August–September 2018, in conjunction with in situ temperature measurements, are used to showcase and verify the use of COVIS for long‐term, quantitative monitoring of hydrothermal discharge. Specifically, sonar data processing generates three‐dimensional backscatter images of the buoyant plumes above major sulfide structures and two‐dimensional maps of diffuse flows within COVIS's field‐of‐view. The backscatter images show substantial changes of plume appearance and orientation that mostly reflect plume bending in the presence of ambient currents and potentially the variations of outflow fluxes. The intensity of acoustic backscatter decreases significantly for highly bent plumes as compared to nearly vertical plumes, reflecting enhanced mixing of plume fluids with seawater driven by ambient currents. A forward model of acoustic backscatter from a buoyancy‐driven plume developed in this study yields a reasonable match with the observation, which paves the way for inversely estimating the source heat flux of a hydrothermal plume from acoustic backscatter measurements. The acoustic observations of diffuse flows show large temporal variations on time scales of hours to days, especially at tidal frequencies, but no apparent long‐term trend. These findings demonstrate COVIS's ability to quantitatively monitor hydrothermal discharge from both focused and diffuse sources to provide the research community with key observational data for studying the linkage of hydrothermal activity with oceanic and geological processes.

Along mid-ocean ridges, submarine venting has been found at all spreading rates and in every ocean basin. By contrast, intraplate hydrothermal activity has only been reported from five locations, worldwide. Here we extend the time series at one of those sites, Teahitia Seamount, which was first shown to be hydrothermally active in 1983 but had not been revisited since 1999. Previously, submersible investigations had led to the discovery of low-temperature (≤30°C) venting associated with the summit of Teahitia Seamount at ≤1500 m. In December 2013 we returned to the same site at the culmination of the US GEOTRACES Eastern South Tropical Pacific (GP16) transect and found evidence for ongoing venting in the form of a non-buoyant hydrothermal plume at a depth of 1400 m. Multi-beam mapping revealed the same composite volcano morphology described previously for Teahitia including four prominent cones. The plume overlying the summit showed distinct in situ optical backscatter and redox anomalies, coupled with high concentrations of total dissolvable Fe (≤186 nmol/L) and Mn (≤33 nmol/L) that are all diagnostic of venting at the underlying seafloor. Continuous seismic records from 1986-present reveal a ~15 year period of quiescence at Teahitia, following the seismic crisis that first stimulated its submersible-led investigation. Since 2007, however, the frequency of seismicity at Teahitia, coupled with the low magnitude of those events, are suggestive of magmatic reactivation. Separately, distinct seismicity at the adjacent Rocard seamount has also been attributed to submarine extrusive volcanism in 2011 and in 2013. Theoretical modeling of the hydrothermal plume signals detected suggest a minimum heat flux of 10 MW at the summit of Teahitia. Those model simulations can only be sourced from an area of low-temperature venting such as that originally reported from Teahitia if the temperature of the fluids exiting the seabed has increased significantly, from ≤30°C to ~70°C. These model seafloor temperatures and our direct plume observations are both consistent with reports from Loihi Seamount, Hawaii, ~10 year following an episode of seafloor volcanism. We hypothesize that the Society Islands hotspot may be undergoing a similar episode of both magmatic and hydrothermal reactivation.

A three‐dimensional, primitive‐equation, ocean circulation model coupled with a Lagrangian particle‐tracking algorithm is used to investigate the dispersal and settlement of planktonic larvae released from discrete hydrothermal habitats on the East Pacific Rise segment at 9–10°N. Model outputs show that mean circulation is anticyclonic around the ridge segment, which consists of a northward flow along the western flank and a southward flow along the eastern flank. Those flank jets are dispersal expressways for the along‐ridge larval transport and strongly affect its overall direction and spatial‐temporal variations. It is evident from model results that the transform faults bounding the ridge segment and off axis topography (the Lamont Seamount Chain) act as topographic barriers to larval dispersal in the along‐ridge direction. Furthermore, the presence of an overlapping spreading center and an adjacent local topographic high impedes the southward along‐ridge larval transport. The model results suggest that larval recolonization within ridge‐crest habitats is enhanced by the anticyclonic circulation around the ridge segment, and the overall recolonization rate is higher for larvae having a short precompetency period and an altitude above the bottom sufficient to avoid influence by the near‐bottom currents Surprisingly, for larvae having a long precompetency period (>10 days), the prolonged travel time allowed some of those larvae to return to their natal vent clusters, which results in an unexpected increase in connectivity among natal and neighboring sites. Overall, model‐based predictions of connectivity are highly sensitive to the larval precompetency period and vertical position in the water column.

The 2015 eruption at Axial Seamount, an active volcano at a depth of 1500 m in the Northeast Pacific, marked the first time a seafloor eruption was detected and monitored by an in situ cabled observatory — the Cabled Array, which is part of the Ocean Observatories Initiative. After the onset of the eruption, eight cabled and noncabled instruments on the seafloor recorded unusual, nearly synchronous and spatially uniform temperature increases of 0.6–0.7°C across the southern half of the caldera and neighboring areas. These temperature signals were substantially different from those observed after the 2011 and 1998 eruptions at Axial and hence cannot be explained by emplacement of the 2015 lava flows on the seafloor. In this study, we investigate several possible explanations for the 2015 temperature anomalies and use a numerical model to test our preferred hypothesis that the temperature increases were caused by the release of a warm, dense brine that had previously been stored in the crust. If our interpretation is correct, this is the first time that the release of a hydrothermal brine has been observed due to a submarine eruption. This observation would have important implications for the salt balance of hydrothermal systems and the fate of brines stored in the subsurface. The observation of the 2015 temperature anomalies and the modeling presented in this study also demonstrate the importance of contemporaneous water column observations to better understand hydrothermal impacts of submarine eruptions.