Name
Machine-Learning–Enhanced Seismic Monitoring with Cabled and Temporary OBS Array Reveals Caldera–Ridge Interactions at Axial Seamount
Date & Time
Tuesday, May 26, 2026, 11:45 AM - 12:00 PM
Description
Axial Seamount, an active submarine volcano at the intersection of the Cobb-Eickelberg hotspot and the Juan de Fuca Ridge, is one of the most extensively instrumented submarine volcanoes in the world. Axial last erupted in 2015, and the current level of inflation indicates the next eruption is imminent. Since 2014, the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) has operated a seven-station cabled ocean-bottom seismometer (OBS) array that enables real-time seismic monitoring. However, its sensitivity has been largely limited to the southern caldera due to network geometry and the shadowing effect of the magma chamber. To improve understanding of the northern caldera and its interaction with the North Rift Zone, a 15-station temporary OBS array was deployed across the entire caldera in two consecutive one-year deployments between 2022 and 2024. We combine continuous waveforms from the cabled and temporary OBS arrays using a machine-learning–enhanced workflow that integrates ML phase detection, unsupervised signal discrimination, cross-correlation, and double-difference relocation. The resulting high-resolution earthquake catalog reveals active seismicity along the eastern and western caldera walls and previously unseen activity at the southern end of the North Rift Zone, including a pronounced burst in summer 2024 that activated all major structures. In contrast, the northern section of the western caldera wall remained quiet over the two-year period, suggesting that the faults were either inactive or slipping aseismically. These results demonstrate that expanded temporary OBS coverage, combined with machine-learning–enhanced analysis, improves understanding of caldera–ridge interactions at submarine volcanoes and provides a transferable framework for monitoring other volcanic systems.
Location Name
Marion McCaine - Ondaatje Hall
Full Address
Dalhousie University
Halifax NS
Canada
Halifax NS
Canada
Session Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract ID
173
Speaker Organization
Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Session Name
S2 (1 of 2)
Co-authors
Kaiwen Wang1,2, Meritxell Colet3, Felix Waldhauser2, David Schaff2, Maya Tolstoy2, William Wilcock4, Yen Joe Tan5
1 Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;
2 Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades NY, US;
3 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, NY, US;
4 School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle WA, US;
5 Earth System Science Programme, Faculty of Science, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Presenting Author
Kaiwen Wang, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China