Ma. Tivey et al., THICKNESS OF A SUBMARINE LAVA FLOW DETERMINED FROM NEAR-BOTTOM MAGNETIC-FIELD MAPPING BY AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLE, Geophysical research letters, 25(6), 1998, pp. 805-808
Magnetic field surveys obtained near the seafloor can map the boundari
es of recent volcanic eruptions and can provide thickness estimates of
these lava flow units independent of bathymetry differencing methods.
Magnetic thickness estimation requires knowledge of the intensity of
magnetization of the new lava and surrounding terrain, but this can be
satisfactorily obtained by representative sampling of the various vol
canic units. While bathymetry differencing requires pre-existing data
to assess the thickness of new lava eruptions, magnetic surveys can be
obtained after an eruption has occurred. In this study, near-bottom m
agnetic surveys were obtained using an autonomous underwater vehicle (
AUV), which operates without a tether or human intervention. AW techno
logy offers rapid deployment and an efficient surveying approach for r
emotely mapping recent lava eruption sites on the seafloor.