New deep submergence technologies are used to obtain photographic images of a 'zero-age' volcanic terrain on the ultra-slow spreading Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic Basin. The imagery reveals that the axial valley at 4,000m water depth is blanketed with unconsolidated pyroclastic deposits, raising important questions regarding the accumulation and discharge of magmatic volatiles on such ridges and demonstrating that large-scale pyroclastic activity is possible along even the deepest portions of the global mid-ocean ridge volcanic system.
- Robert A. Sohn
- Claire Willis
- Adam Soule
