Maquinna (volcano)

Maquinna is an active submarine mud volcano on the Coast of British Columbia, Canada, located 16 – west of Vancouver Island. It rises approximately 30 m above the mean level of the northeastern Pacific Ocean and lies directly along the southern expression of the left lateral, strike-slip Nootka Fault.

Geology
Maquinna is one of the few mud volcanoes documented in the northeast Pacific. It is 1.5 km across, contains a breached caldera and two small summit craters.

Scientific studies of Maquinna showed strong, co-registered thermal, particulate, and unusual oxygen that extends 50 m above the volcano, indicating a water column. This data suggests the volcano is actively venting warm hydrothermal fluids.

The formation of Maquinna is thought to be high sediment accumulation and horizontal tectonic compression associated with accretionary prism formation adjacent to the west coast of Vancouver Island supporting overpressuring of fluids at depth along the Nootka Fault zone, resulting in the formation of Maquinna.