The Tonga volcano excavated an 850-meter underwater crater

2023-09-12 01:21:21

The eruption of the submerged Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano on January 15, 2022 triggered shock waves that traveled across the planet and They excavated a huge crater 850 meters under the sea.

New research, published in Science (1), describes what happened beneath the sea surface when the erupting plume of volcanic material collapsed and sank back into the ocean. The sudden release of huge volumes of hot volcanic rock, ash and gas into the ocean created avalanche-like flows, which traveled at speeds of up to 122 km/hour along the seabed, causing extensive damage to the two undersea communications cables that connected Tonga and its many islands to the global network..

Scientists carried out studies and sampling of the seabed immediately after the eruption, which showed that the Damage to the submarine cable was caused by powerful and dense currents.

57 km high eruption column

Researchers were able to determine for the first time the speeds of seafloor flows triggered by eruptions and better understand the dangers posed by other submerged volcanoes around the world. The extremely fast flow velocities were caused by the collapse of the 57 km high eruption column, when it fell directly into the ocean on the underwater flanks of the submerged volcano.

“The height from which the volcanic column collapsed and the resulting speed and power of the submarine flows explain the widespread damage to seafloor cables,” he said in a statement. statement Cornel de Ronde of the New Zealand research center GNS Sciencecoauthor of the article.

“This research highlights that explosive eruptions from the numerous submerged volcanoes around New Zealand and Pacific island nations, especially shallow ones, could also produce high-energy underwater density currents and deserve attention as tsunami risk to vulnerable coastal communities and critical underwater infrastructure“, he added.

References (1)Fast and destructive density currents created by ocean-entering volcanic eruptions. Science.