Marie S. Salmi

Rethinking turbidite paleoseismology along the Cascadia subduction zone

A stratigraphic synthesis of dozens of deep-sea cores, most of them overlooked in recent decades, provides new insights into deepsea turbidites as guides to earthquake and tsunami hazards along the Cascadia subduction zone, which extends 1100 km along the Pacific coast of North America. The synthesis shows greater variability in Holocene stratigraphy and facies off the Washington coast than was recognized a quarter century ago in a confluence test for seismic triggering of sediment gravity flows. That test compared counts of Holocene turbidites upstream and downstream of a deep-sea channel junction. Similarity in the turbidite counts among seven core sites provided evidence that turbidity currents from different submarine canyons usually reached the junction around the same time, as expected of widespread seismic triggering. The fuller synthesis, however, shows distinct differences between tributaries, and these differences suggest sediment routing for which the confluence test was not designed. The synthesis also bears on recent estimates of Cascadia earthquake magnitudes and recurrence intervals. The magnitude estimates hinge on stratigraphic correlations that discount variability in turbidite facies. The recurrence estimates require turbidites to represent megathrust earthquakes more dependably than they do along a flow path where turbidite frequency appears limited less by seismic shaking than by sediment supply. These concerns underscore the complexity of extracting earthquake history from deep-sea turbidites at Cascadia.

Hydrothermal circulation within the Endeavour Segment, Juan de Fuca Ridge

Areas of the seafloor at mid-ocean ridges where hydrothermal vents discharge are easily recognized by the dramatic biological, physical, and chemical processes that characterize such sites. Locations where seawater flows into the seafloor to recharge hydrothermal cells within the crustal reservoir are by contrast almost invisible but can be indirectly identified by a systematic grid of conductive heat flow measurements. An array of conductive heat flow stations in the Endeavour axial valley of the Juan de Fuca Ridge has identified recharge zones that appear to represent a nested system of fluid circulation paths. At the scale of an axial rift valley, conductive heat flow data indicate a general cross-valley fluid flow, where seawater enters the shallow subsurface crustal reservoir at the eastern wall of the Endeavour axial valley and undergoes a kilometer of horizontal transit beneath the valley floor, finally exiting as warm hydrothermal fluid discharge on the western valley bounding wall. Recharge zones also have been identified as located within an annular ring of very cold seafloor around the large Main Endeavour Hydrothermal Field, with seawater inflow occurring within faults that surround the fluid discharge sites. These conductive heat flow data are consistent with previous models where high-temperature fluid circulation cells beneath large hydrothermal vent fields may be composed of narrow vertical cylinders. Subsurface fluid circulation on the Endeavour Segment occurs at various crustal depths in three distinct modes: (1) general east to west flow across the entire valley floor, (2) in narrow cylinders that penetrate deeply to high-temperature heat sources, and (3) supplying low-temperature diffuse vents where seawater is entrained into the shallow uppermost crust by the adjacent high-temperature cylindrical systems. The systematic array of conductive heat flow measurements over the axial valley floor averaged ∼150 mW/m2, suggesting that only about 3% of the total energy flux of ocean crustal formation is removed by conductive heat transfer, with the remainder being dissipated to overlying seawater by fluid advection.

Analysis of bubble plume distributions to evaluate methane hydrate decomposition on the continental slope

Cascadia margin sediments contain a rich reservoir of carbon derived both from terrestrial input and sea surface productivity. A portion of this carbon exists as solid gas hydrate within sediment pore spaces which previous studies have shown to be a methane reservoir of substantial size on both the Vancouver Island and Oregon portions of the Cascadia margin. Multichannel seismic reflection profiles on the Cascadia margin show the widespread presence of Bottom Simulating Reflectors (BSRs) within the sediment column, indicating the gas hydrate reservoir extends from the deformation front at 3000 m depth to the upper limit of gas hydrate stability near 500 m water depth. In this study, we compile an inventory of methane bubble plume sites on the Cascadia margin identified in investigations carried out for a range of interdisciplinary goals that also include sites volunteered by commercial fishermen. High plume density anomalies are associated with both the continental shelf (<180 m) and the depth of the upper limit of methane hydrate stability depth (MHSD) that occurs near 500 m in the NE Pacific. The observed anomalies on the Cascadia slope may be due to the warming of seawater at intermediate depths, suggesting that modern climate change has begun to destabilize the climate-sensitive hydrate reservoir within the Cascadia margin sediments. Reanalysis of similar plume images on the North American Atlantic slope suggests a lack of correlation between observed plume depths and the MHSD for much of the latitudinal range.

Behavior of methane seep bubbles over a pockmark on the Cascadia continental margin

A newly modifi ed acoustic method was used to derive time-dependent bubble emission size distributions and to monitor associated zooplankton behavior at a methane seep emitted from the northeast Pacifi c continental shelf in 150 m water depth near Grays Harbor, Washington State, USA. Instrumentation consisted of a seafl oor mooring with an upward-oriented 200 kHz sonar that imaged the column’s lower 100 m for 33 h during September 2009. The profi ler observed several highly variable methane bubble streams venting from a large carbonate-lined pockmark. Other acoustic data and visual observations confi rmed that the gas bubbles reached the sea surface and were highly variable in nature. Individual bubble traces in the acoustic sonar images were used to derive vertical bubble velocities with a mean value of 24.6 ± 2.5 cm s ‐1 over the entire depth range. Some bubbles entering the acoustic image at shallower water depths exhibited a slower rise velocity of 22.2 ± 2.4 cm s ‐1 and likely originated from adjacent emission sites. Measured rise velocities were too slow to be clean, uncoated bubbles. We therefore assumed that the bubbles were surfactant coated with a Gaussian-shaped size distribution peaking at an observed radius of 7500 ± 100 μm. If the fl ux derived from these measurements was assumed to be relatively constant over time, total methane issuing from only one of the ~20 active bubble vents at the pockmark site is estimated as ~9 kg yr ‐1 , similar to the fl ux

High-resolution near-bottom vector magnetic anomalies over Raven Hydrothermal Field, Endeavour Segment, Juan de Fuca Ridge

High-resolution, near-bottom vector magnetic data were collected by remotely operated vehicle Jason over the Raven hydrothermal vent field (47°57.3′N 129°5.75′W) located north of Main Endeavour vent field on the Endeavour segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. The survey was part of a comprehensive heat flow study of the Raven site using innovative thermal blanket technology to map the heat flux and crustal fluid pathways around a solitary hydrothermal vent field. Raven hydrothermal activity is presently located along the western axial valley wall, while additional inactive hydrothermal deposits are found to the NW on the upper rift valley wall. Magnetic inversion results show discrete areas of reduced magnetization associated with both active and inactive hydrothermal vent deposits that also show high conductive heat flow. Higher spatial variability in the heat flow patterns compared to the magnetization is consistent with the heat flow reflecting the currently active but ephemeral thermal environment of fluid flow, while crustal magnetization is representative of the static time-averaged effect of hydrothermal alteration. A general NW to SE trend in reduced magnetization across the Raven area correlates closely with the distribution of hydrothermal deposits and heat flux patterns and suggests that the fluid circulation system at depth is likely controlled by local crustal structure and magma chamber geometry. Magnetic gradient tensor components computed from vector magnetic data improve the resolution of the magnetic anomaly source and indicate that the hydrothermally altered zone directly beneath the Raven site is approximately 15 × 106 m3 in volume.

Quantitative estimate of heat flow from a mid‐ocean ridge axial valley, Raven field, Juan de Fuca Ridge: Observations and inferences

A systematic heat flow survey using thermal blankets within the Endeavour segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge axial valley provides quantitative estimates of the magnitude and distribution of conductive heat flow at a mid-ocean ridge, with the goal of testing current models of hydrothermal circulation present within newly formed oceanic crust. Thermal blankets were deployed covering an area of 700 by 450 m in the Raven Hydrothermal vent field area located 400 m north of the Main Endeavour hydrothermal field. A total of 176 successful blanket deployment sites measured heat flow values that ranged from 0 to 31 W m−2. Approximately 53% of the sites recorded values lower than 100 mW m−2, suggesting large areas of seawater recharge and advective extraction of lithospheric heat. High heat flow values were concentrated around relatively small “hot spots.” Integration of heat flow values over the Raven survey area gives an estimate of conductive heat output of 0.3 MW, an average of 0.95 W m−2, over the survey area. Fluid circulation cell dimensions and scaling equations allow calculation of a Rayleigh number of approximately 700 in Layer 2A. The close proximity of high and low heat flow areas, coupled with previous estimates of surficial seafloor permeability, argues for the presence of small-scale hydrothermal fluid circulation cells within the high-porosity uppermost crustal layer of the axial seafloor.

Sediment gravity flows triggered by remotely generated earthquake waves

Recent great earthquakes and tsunamis around the world have heightened awareness of the inevitability of similar events occurring within the Cascadia Subduction Zone of the Pacific Northwest. We analyzed seafloor temperature, pressure, and seismic signals, and of video stills of sediment-enveloped instruments recorded during the 2011- 2015 Cascadia Initiative experiment, and seafloor morphology. Our results led us to suggest that thick accretionary prism sediments amplified and extended seismic wave durations from the April 11, 2012 Mw8.6 Indian Ocean earthquake, located more than 13,500 km away. These waves triggered a sequence of small slope failures on the Cascadia margin that led to sediment gravity flows culminating in turbidity currents. Previous studies have related the triggering of sediment-laden gravity flows and turbidite deposition to local earthquakes, but this is the first study in which the originating seismic event is extremely distant (>10,000 km). The possibility of remotely triggered slope failures that generate sediment-laden gravity flows should be considered in inferences of recurrence intervals of past great Cascadia earthquakes from turbidite sequences. Future similar studies may provide new understanding of submarine slope failures and turbidity currents and the hazards they pose to seafloor infrastructure and tsunami generation in regions both with and without local earthquakes.