Dispersed Volcanic Ash and Terrigenous Matter in Sediment from the Northwest Pacific

Trustees Of Boston University, Boston

Investigators

Abstract

Pelagic and hemipelagic muds, which cover the floor of most of the world's oceans, have always been thought to be primarily of continental origin. We now know that undersea explosive volcanism is not as rare as we once thought and there is a distinct possibility that these muds may, in fact, have large volcanic ash components. This research unravels the origin of these muds and employs a novel, new, statistical approach to determine quantitatively the amount and origin/source of the volcanic ash component in them. The work is potentially transformative in terms of our understanding of seafloor sediments and could completely change how we characterize and understand deep sea sedimentation. It may also allow us to determine seafloor volcanic eruption ash-dispersal patterns and understand, for the first time, how important undersea volcanic eruptions are to the global seafloor sediment budget and geochemical cycling. Broader impacts of the work include support of a graduate student whose gender is under-represented in the sciences and undergraduates. The work is relevant to the NSF-funded MARGINS and Ocean Drilling Program missions and science plans. Resulting data will be publicly available through the NSF-funded SedDB data portal and data archive.