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Unnamed submarine volcano in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Northern EPR at 9.8°N

Fissure vent · Undersea Features · 2500m (submarine)

Fluid containing precipitates rises from a "black smoker" chimney at the Tica vent at 9°N on the East Pacific Rise, photographed during a 2004 expedition sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Hot-vent animal communities (such as seen in the foreground of this image from the November to December 1989 expedition) were observed to have been buried by lava flows in 1991. Another eruption in 2005-2006 produced lava flows that covered seismometers.
Fluid containing precipitates rises from a "black smoker" chimney at the Tica vent at 9°N on the East Pacific Rise, photographed during a 2004 expedition sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Hot-vent animal communities (such as seen in the foreground of this image from the November to December 1989 expedition) were observed to have been buried by lava flows in 1991. Another eruption in 2005-2006 produced lava flows that covered seismometers. · Photo: Photo courtesy of Ridge2000, 2004 (http://www.ridge2000.org/eo/expeditions.php).
Type
Fissure vent
Country
Undersea Features
Region
Eastern Pacific Volcanic Regions / Northern East Pacific Rise Volcanic Province
Elevation
2500m (submarine)
Coordinates
9.830, -104.300
Last eruption
2025
Tectonic setting
Rift zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)
Landform
Cluster
Major rock type
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Geological summary

A series of dives with the submersible Alvin in 1991 on the East Pacific Rise at about 9°50'N detected evidence for a very recent, possibly ongoing, eruption. Hot-vent animal communities documented during November-December 1989 had been buried by fresh basaltic lava flows, and the scorched soft tissues of partially buried biota had not yet attracted bottom scavengers. Fresh black smoker chimneys and new lava flows were present. This site is south of the Clipperton Fracture Zone at a depth of about 2,500 m, and about 1,000 km SW of Acapulco, México; the south end of the Lamont Seamount chain is about 10 km NW. This is also the location where lava flows previously estimated as being less than roughly 50 years old had been found. Later dating using very short half-life radionuclides from dredged samples confirmed the young age of the eruption and indicated that another eruptive event had taken place in late 1991 and early 1992. An eruption in 2005-2006 produced lava flows that entrapped previously emplaced seismometers.

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
5050 BCE~4814 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 04107 BCE~3871 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 03163 BCE~2927 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 02220 BCE~1984 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 01277 BCE~1041 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 097 BCE~138 · 1 eruptions · max VEI 0846~1082 · 2 eruptions · max VEI 01082~1318 · 1 eruptions · max VEI 01553~1789 · 2 eruptions · max VEI 01789~2025 · 7 eruptions · max VEI 05050 BCE3399 BCE1512 BCE1381789

Detailed timeline

  1. 2025VEI 0Observed
    2025-04-28 – 2025-04-29
    Tica hydrothermal vent, 9°50’N (9.83°N)
  2. 2005VEI 0Observed
    2005-08-16 – 2006-01-16
    East Pacific Rise (9.8°N)
  3. 1991VEI 0Geological estimate
    1991-01-27 – 1991-03-26
    East Pacific Rise (9.84°N)
  4. 1991VEI 0Geological estimate
    1991-12-01 – 1992-02-05
    East Pacific Rise (9.84°N)
  5. 1988VEI 0Observed
    1988-07-02 – Ongoing
    East Pacific Rise (9.27°N)
  6. 1950VEI 0Geological estimate
    1950-07-02 – Ongoing
    East Pacific Rise (9.87°N)
  7. 1875VEI 0Geological estimate
    1875 – Ongoing
    East Pacific Rise (9.9°N)
  8. 1650 (±100 yrs)VEI 0Geological estimate
    1650 – Ongoing
    East Pacific Rise (9.82°N)
  9. 1600 (±150 yrs)VEI 0Geological estimate
    1600 – Ongoing
    East Pacific Rise (9.87°N)
  10. 1200 (±300 yrs)VEI 0Geological estimate
    1200 – Ongoing
    East Pacific Rise (9.82°N)
  11. 950 (±2000 yrs)VEI 0Geological estimate
    950 – Ongoing
    East Pacific Rise (9.5°N)
  12. 850 (±200 yrs)VEI 0Geological estimate
    850 – Ongoing
    East Pacific Rise (9.87°N)
  13. 50 BCE (±2000 yrs)VEI 0Geological estimate
    BCE 50 – Ongoing
    East Pacific Rise (9.5°N)
  14. 1050 BCE (±2000 yrs)VEI 0Geological estimate
    BCE 1050 – Ongoing
    East Pacific Rise (9.5°N)
  15. 2050 BCE (±2000 yrs)VEI 0Geological estimate
    BCE 2050 – Ongoing
    East Pacific Rise (9.5°N)
  16. 3050 BCE (±2000 yrs)VEI 0Geological estimate
    BCE 3050 – Ongoing
    EPR axis and East of axis
  17. 4050 BCE (±2000 yrs)VEI 0Geological estimate
    BCE 4050 – Ongoing
    East Pacific Rise (9.5°N)
  18. 5050 BCE (±8000 yrs)VEI 0Geological estimate
    BCE 5050 – Ongoing
    EPR axis and East and West of axis

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.