Axial Seamount is an underwater volcano located in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean, about 483 kilometers (300 miles) off the coast of Oregon. Because its frequent volcanic activity, the first underwater volcano observatory is located near the volcano. (www.pmel.noaa.gov)
According to www.en.wikipedia.org, the two plates that create the boundary are called the Juan de Fuca plate and the North American Plate. These two plates form a divergent plate boundary. (www.en.wikipedia.org)
A divergent plate boundary is created when two plates pull away from each other. When the plates move away from each other, magma is exposed and seeps through the crack. The magma cools and creates a mid-ocean ridge. www.wikipedia.org states that Axial Seamount is surrounded by a two mid-ocean ridges, in addition to a series of smaller, less …show more content…
Because of this, the volcano and its research station often appear in the news. One such time was in a news article called “Underwater Volcano Offers Rare Look at Eruption in Real Time”, written by Nadia Drake from National Geographic. The article spoke of how the volcano's location, surroundings, etc, help geologists learn more and more each day about volcanoes and how to forecast their eruptions. The article later states that a geophysicist at the University of North Carolina says, “We can understand these simple systems first, and then move to more complex volcanoes and apply similar ideas.”