This is a 3-D bathymetric map of the southernmost 2/3 of the Loihi summit
platform. Three pit craters are the most distinctive features. The
southwesternmost crater is a new feature formed during the
1996 seismic event.
This crater, named Pele Pit,
is roughly 300m deep. It formed in a location that was previously the
high-point on the summit, the old Pele's vents area of hydrothermal activity.
Adjacent to the New Pit was a breccia field of both fresh and altered
pillow lava fragments. Examples of each type, sampled in 1996 using the
submersible Pisces V, are shown below:
Since the pit collapse, hydrothermal activity has resumed in the the pit, forming new chimneys of minerals built up at the places where these fluids issue onto the seafloor. Temperatures of over 200 °C have been recorded within these chimneys. |
OTHER LOIHI TOUR LINKS:
[The Summit Region |
The New Pit |
The HUGO site |
The South Rift]
This page created and maintained by
Ken Rubin©,
krubin@soest.hawaii.edu
Bathymetry Images by Nathan Becker
Other credits for this web site.
Last page update on 7 Sep 1998