Seismic constraints on the hydrothermal circulation and magmato-tectonic interactions beneath Lucky Strike volcano, Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Lucky Strike volcano is the central edifice of the Lucky Strike segment, Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Its summit overlies an axial magma chamber (AMC), 3-3.8 km beneath the seafloor, and hosts one of the largest known deep-sea hydrothermal fields. Local seismicity beneath the hydrothermal field has been monitored since 2007 as a part of the EMSO (European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water column Observatory)-Azores observatory by 5 OBSs with yearly redeployments. From the 2007-2019 earthquake catalog, the primary process for the seismicity observed beneath the volcano region is proposed to be thermal contraction at the base of the hydrothermal circulation. In this interpretation the most seismically active zones represent the domains of maximum heat extraction at the base of the hydrothermal system. Here we present the evolution of the hydrothermal system controlled by magmato-tectonic interactions in the frame of this interpretation.

First, we observe two shifts of the most seismically active zones from ~1.4km North-Northwest of the hydrothermal field as documented in 2007-2009 to ~0.7km to North of the field in between 2010-2013 and then Eastward for about ~0.6km from 2010-2013 to 2015-present. These shifts, of the order ~600-700 meters, occurring at time scales of a few years, might be driven by one or several of the following mechanisms: the relocation of the maximum heat extraction zone to a shallower region of the AMC after significant heat extraction, the relocation to a recent magmatic injection,  and/or a tectonically-driven change in the hydrothermal fluid pathways.

Second, we observe three main Higher Seismic Activity (HSA seismic rate > 18 events/week) periods: April-June 2009, August-September 2015 and April-May 2016. The 2009 HSA period lasted ~13 weeks and the events clustered just above the AMC, while the 2015 and 2016 HSA periods lasted ~4-5 weeks, with events forming a narrow, dike-shaped cluster between the AMC  and just few meters below seafloor. HSA periods are characterized by deeper events and the occurrence of a few higher magnitude events (M_L > 1.0). In between HSA periods, the seismicity tends to align along the trace of an inward dipping fault that bounds the narrow axial graben to the west, at the top of the volcano. The HSA periods can thus be interpreted as periods of maximum heat extraction by the hydrothermal circulation, possibly obscuring the background fault-related seismicity that is detected in periods of lesser seismic activity.