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The raw power of a major eruption from an underwater volcano on the South Pacific Ring of Fire, is sending dramatic clouds of gas, steam, smoke and ash fifteen to twenty five thousand feet into the atmosphere. “It’s a major eruption on quite a huge scale,” Kelepi Maf says, Tonga’s chief geologist. Scientists believe that a number of chambers of magma are fuelling the volcano.
The volcano started erupting on Monday 16th March, following a succession of earthquakes which hit the local region. Geochemist, Professor Simon Turner, from the Macquarie University, Sydney, says “The quakes and the volcano eruption probably aren’t linked. It would mean the magma would have needed to have risen 110k to the surface in a few days and that would be most unlikely.”
The start of a new island was formed in just three days, because of the huge volume of lava the submarine volcano has emitted. The new (ephemeral) island is just seven miles off the coast of Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga and still hidden by smoke. The enormous raft of pumice is floating about two miles north of the eruption.
Simon Turner says “Submarine volcanoes can be violent and can strongly affect the climate. The present erupting volcano isn’t hitting the stratosphere yet, but as it continues to grow that is very real possibility.”
The newly formed island could last up to several months, or even some years, before it is eaten away by the motion of waves. It is created from pumice, a kind of rock that is formed when lava and gases erupt in relatively shallow water. The rock becomes fragmented as it rapidly cools. Pumice weighs so light it floats. It is projected that the flotsam and jetsam from the volcanic eruption will flow towards the southern coast of Fiji, obstructing its beaches.
A group of scientists are on their way to scrutinize the eruption and track its affect on the area.
A small island was similarly created in October 2006 in an eruption at Home Reef. The new island measure 800 m long by 400 m wide.
Scientists know that approximately 75% of the world’s volcanic activity takes place beneath the sea in the world’s oceanic basins, anywhere from the surcease to uncharted depths of 2.5 miles. This makes the eruptions very hard to discover. Undersea volcano eruptions were first caught on film in June 2008. “It’s the first time we’ve been able to monitor an active volcanic eruption underwater, with a remotely controlled vehicle,” said Bill Chadwick from the Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center, in Newport. “Underwater you can observe the gases a lot clearer, so you get a much better idea of what’s actually going on. Gases are difficult to see in the air.” The water reduces the power of the explosive eruptions making it easier to monitor them much closer up, compared to monitoring land volcanoes.
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