Seismo-Tectonic Monitoring of Endeavour: Recent and Future Expansion of Ocean Networks Canada’s NEPTUNE Observatory on the Juan de Fuca Ridge

Date: 4/24/2019

Time: 04:45 PM

Room: Grand Crescent

Ocean Networks Canada’s (ONC) NEPTUNE observatory provides real-time access to sensors on the northern segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge (Endeavour). In 2010, an initial suite of disparate instruments (cameras, a short-period seismometer, and vent monitoring instruments) was installed at the Main Endeavour vent field, which was further fortified by the installation of four extension cables — connecting the Western Ridge Flank, Northern Circulation Moorings, Mothra Vent Field, and Southern Circulation moorings — in 2016. This past summer, vent monitoring systems and five seismic sensors were installed in the area.

We will present an overview of the data that are available in near real-time from Endeavour and future plans for additional experiments, including measurements of seafloor compliance. We will focus on initial results from our improved seismic network, which is critical to the understanding of geological processes that create oceanic crust, such as plate boundary extension, subsurface magma movements, and hydrothermal heat extraction. Moreover, we will demonstrate the efficacy of a small-scale three-sensor seismometer array (Güralp Maris) that is designed to detect and monitor small cracking events in the upper few hundred meters of crust that may be related to hydrothermal flow and chemical reactions in the Main Endeavour Vent Field.

Presenting Author: Joseph J. Farrugia

Authors