Gakkel ridge is the slowest spreading mid-ocean ridge with full spreading rates <10 mm/yr. In 1999, a teleseismic earthquake swarm signaled the onset of an eruptive episode at 85°E. The Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge expedition in 2001 detected a hydrothermal event plume and explosive seismoacoustic signals. In 2007, the Arctic Gakkel Vents Expedition found direct evidence for recent submarine explosive activity on the seafloor at ∼4000 m. The newest data motivated a reassessment of the seismoacoustic events of 2001. We undertake 2-D finite difference wavefield modeling to relocate the source of the signals and investigate the possible source mechanism; the explosion sounds likely result from submarine Strombolian eruptions with bursting gas bubbles rising from a magma reservoir along a major fault at the southern rift valley wall. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union.