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Unlike subaerial volcanic activity, deep submarine eruptions are difficult to detect, observe and monitor. The objective of this paper is to describe a large and complex volcanic region, named the Horseshoe area, recently discovered at ${\sim }$1500 m below sea level on the eastern upper submarine slope of Mayotte Island. The area is crucial because, since 2018, it has experienced an exceptionally deep seismic activity associated with the ongoing submarine eruption that formed a new volcanic edifice, Fani Maoré, about 40 km to the east. We present the results of a multiscale study, based on high-resolution bathymetry and in-situ seafloor observations carried out with autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and deep-towed camera systems. In-situ imagery provides ground-truth for the geological interpretation of seafloor textures mapped with the bathymetry. The combination of both datasets allows us to discuss the nature of the volcanic structures and to propose a relative chronology of previous eruptive events in the Horseshoe area. Based on our analyses, we propose the following chronology: (a) the emplacement of a large explosive volcanic cone, the Horseshoe edifice, (b) the later collapse of this edifice that resulted in the formation of an elongated, 2 km wide horseshoe-shaped depression, crosscutting older hummocky lava flows, (c) the development of an E–W eruptive fissure associated with numerous explosive craters, east of the Horseshoe edifice, and (d) late volcanism emanating from the rim of the horseshoe-shaped depression that fed elongated thin lava flows both towards and away from the depression. While all volcanic features mapped at the Horseshoe area were emplaced prior to the 2018 eruption, our study shows that this region has still been volcanically active in the recent past. Our results thus document a complex geological history at small spatial scales involved in the construction of major submarine edifices, and that are controlled by volcano-tectonic processes at larger scales.

Geophysical and geological data from the North Mozambique Channel acquired during the 2020–2021 SISMAORE oceanographic cruise reveal a corridor of recent volcanic and tectonic features 200 km wide and 600 km long within and north of Comoros Archipelago. Here we identify and describe two major submarine tectono-volcanic fields: the N’Droundé province oriented N160°E north of Grande-Comore Island, and the Mwezi province oriented N130°E north of Anjouan and Mayotte Islands. The presence of popping basaltic rocks sampled in the Mwezi province suggests post-Pleistocene volcanic activity. The geometry and distribution of recent structures observed on the seafloor are consistent with a current regional dextral transtensional context. Their orientations change progressively from west to east (${\sim }$N160°E, ${\sim }$N130°E, ${\sim }$EW). The volcanism in the western part appears to be influenced by the pre-existing structural fabric of the Mesozoic crust. The 200 km-wide and 600 km-long tectono-volcanic corridor underlines the incipient Somalia–Lwandle dextral lithospheric plate boundary between the East-African Rift System and Madagascar.