Axial Base V16

Axial Base PN3A Pano Image2
PN3A Axial Seamount

Image of mooring infrastructure at Axial Seamount Primary Node 3A

Plugging in the Deep Profiler at Axial Base

ROPOS connecting cable AXVMW4 and strain relief to the junction box on the Deep Profiler mooring at Axial Base.

Photo Credit: NSF-OOI/UW/CSSF, Dive 1742, V14

Location: 46.1082ºN  129.6182ºW      Water Depth: 2650-2654 meters       

The study site at the base of Axial Seamount is far from the continental shelf (>350 km) and represents an open-ocean or pelagic site in the continuum of observing scales represented in the OOI's cabled system. Here, large-scale currents including the North Pacific Current, the subpolar gyre and the northern end of the California Current interact. These currents transport heat, salt, oxygen, and biota, all of which are crucial to the region's ecosystem.