Researchers discover 'leak' in seafloor along Cascadia Subduction Zone

New discovery along the Cascadia Subduction Zone

Local scientists at the University of Washington have made an exciting discovery on the seafloor along the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The same zone capable of bringing "the big one", a 9.0 earthquake to western Washington.

SEATTLE - Local scientists have made an exciting discovery on the seafloor along the Cascadia Subduction Zone—the same zone that could someday give Western Washington "The Big One," a 9.0-magnitude earthquake.

Researchers with the University of Washington have identified a big hole on the seafloor offshore of Oregon.

This is a sonar image of what scientists are calling "Pythia's Oasis," a giant seep spewing warm liquid—a lot of it water. One of the authors of the study says the chemistry of the fluid suggests it's coming from near the plate boundary.

When liquid is released near a fault line, it can lower the amount of pressure and increase the stress between plates, potentially contributing to what's called "sticking behavior."

However, researchers emphasize that this recent discovery doesn't change the current risk of "The Big One" on the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, Dr. Harold Tobin, told FOX 13 News that more research needs to be done to map out other potential leaks along the seafloor.

"What we need to do is map it in a lot more detail. In the same on land, we can pour over every spot and look for those scars of ancient faults, or look for hot springs and sample them and understand them," said Tobin.

Earthquake experts say there's always some water leaking from the ocean floor, and that this particular seep has probably been going on for at least 1,500 years. There's nothing necessarily new about the leak itself, only that it's been recently discovered.

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What's so unique about this particular vent is the rate at which the water is coming from the seafloor. Researcher Dr. Evan Solomon says to his knowledge, this is the highest liquid-leaking rate ever recorded on a subduction zone.