Your Objective

Use depth and angle (tilt from side to side) data of the seafloor along with temperature data from the Axial Seamount in the Northeast Pacific Ocean (Cabled Axial Seamount) to determine if there are relationships around an eruption event.

Include datasets:




Data Tips

When the site loads, you are able to see the seafloor depth and angle (tilt) in the X (east-west) and Y (north-south) directions, as well as temperature recorded from inside the seafloor sensor, from 7 months in 2015 at the Axial Seamount. You can interact with the data by:

Note - Tilt values are in microradians. One microradian is the amount of angle you'd get if you lifted one end of a straight line that is 1 km long by 1 mm.

Questions for Thought

Orientation Questions
  • Across what time period are you able to observe depth and angle (tilt from side to side) data of the seafloor in these graphs? What is the first day there are data? What is the last day there are data?
  • In what direction (North, South, East, or West) is the angle of the seafloor when there is a negative X-tilt? A negative Y-tilt?
  • Across what range are you able to observe temperature data of the water, as measured from inside the seafloor sensor?
Interpretation Questions
  • When did the eruption event occur?
  • What changes or patterns did you observe in depth and angle of the seafloor occurred during the eruption event at the Axial Seamount?
    • When did you see these changes or patterns?
    • What is your evidence?
  • What changes or patterns did you observe in the temperature data around the time of the eruption event?
    • When did you see these changes or patterns?
    • What is your evidence?
    • Why do you think theses changes or patterns occurred?
  • What questions do you still have about why the depth and angle of the seafloor as well as surrounding water temperature changes during an eruption event?

Background Information

Click on the images below to learn more about where and how the dataset above was collected.

Additional Resources

Dataset Information

The data for this activity was obtained from the following Bottom Pressure and Tilt instruments on the Cabled Axial Seamount array:

Download this Dataset

The above datasets were downloaded from the OOI data portal and downsampled to simplify the datasets for plotting. Special thanks to William Chadwick for assistance in the processing these data. For more information about these data and past events, please check out NOAA PMEL's site on Bottom Pressure and Tilt instruments at Axial Seamount.