According to geologists, a massive underwater volcano is displaying signals of an imminent eruption hundreds of miles off the coast of Oregon.
Nearly a mile (1.4 kilometers) below the surface, the volcano, called Axial Seamount, is situated on a geological hot zone where molten rock gushes rise from the Earth’s mantle and into the crust. On the seafloor, hotspot volcanoes are frequent. However, Axial Seamount is also situated on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, which is a region where two enormous tectonic plates—the Pacific and Juan de Fuca plates—are continuously separating, leading to a persistent increase in pressure beneath the surface of the earth.
