Low-degree mantle melting controls the deep seismicity and explosive volcanism of the Gakkel Ridge

Ivan Koulakov (), Vera Schlindwein, Mingqi Liu, Taras Gerya, Andrey Jakovlev and Aleksey Ivanov
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Ivan Koulakov: Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics SB RAS
Vera Schlindwein: Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Mingqi Liu: Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zurich
Taras Gerya: Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zurich
Andrey Jakovlev: Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics SB RAS
Aleksey Ivanov: Institute of the Earth’s Crust SB RAS

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The world’s strongest known spreading-related seismicity swarm occurred in 1999 in a segment of the Gakkel Ridge located at 85°E as a consequence of an effusive-explosive submarine volcanic eruption. The data of a seismic network deployed on ice floes were used to locate hundreds of local earthquakes down to ∼25 km depth and to build a seismic tomography model under the volcanic area. Here we show the seismicity and the distribution of seismic velocities together with the 3D magmatic-thermomechanical numerical model, which demonstrate how a magma reservoir under the Gakkel Ridge may form, rise and trigger volcanic eruptions in the rift valley. The ultraslow spreading rates with low mantle potential temperatures appear to be a critical factor in the production of volatile-rich, low-degree mantle melts that are focused toward the magma reservoirs within narrow magmatic sections. The degassing of these melts is the main cause of the explosive submarine eruptions.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30797-4

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