• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

The Fastest Underwater Plumes On Record Reshaped The Seabed After The Tonga Eruption

September 8, 2023 by Deborah Bloomfield

Plumes of devastation known as “pyroclastic density currents” ripped across the seabed following the Tonga Eruption in 2022, a volcanic blast that’s claimed near-countless world records. Carrying debris like rock, mud, and ash, they traveled at speeds of up to 122 kilometers (75 miles) per hour and carried on for over 100 kilometers (62 miles).

The 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption in Tonga occurred beneath the Pacific Ocean on January 15, 2022. When it went up, it transferred roughly 146 billion kilograms (322 billion pounds) of water into the stratosphere, where it could remain for up to a decade and contribute to the degradation of the ozone layer.

Advertisement

It was the largest natural explosion in a century, triggering an 11-hour lightning marathon, and the highest plume ever recorded, reaching heights of 57 kilometers (34 miles), more than 17 kilometers (11 miles) clear of the previous record holder, Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.

And it seems what went up also went sideways, as the devastation that traveled underwater during the carnage has now set its own record, reports the BBC. Known as pyroclastic density currents, they’re driven by all the stuff that exploded into the eruption column – largely superheated ash and rock – collapsing down into the surrounding water.

As the debris entered the sea, it formed a stampede of muddy, ashy destruction that charged across the seafloor at over 120 km/h (75 mph), smothering marine life and severing telecommunications cabling that keeps the Pacific kingdom online. The authors of a new paper about the eruption suggest that if we’re to return connectivity in a meaningful way, more extensive seafloor mapping is needed to identify other submerged volcanoes that could experience similar eruptions.

Tonga isn’t alone in facing this threat from underwater volcanoes, and the authors have established that there are plenty more we need to be keeping an eye on if we’re to anticipate and better plan for the next big eruption in light of all we’ve learned from Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai.

Advertisement

“We confirm that bedforms observed on many other shallow submerged volcanoes worldwide can be produced by powerful eruptions, demonstrating that the hazards experienced at Hunga volcano can occur elsewhere,” they write.

“Explosive eruptions from these often unsurveyed and unmonitored submerged volcanoes can produce high-energy submarine density currents and warrant far greater consideration as tsunamigenic sources and as primary threats to vulnerable coastal communities and critical subsea infrastructure.”

The study is published in Science.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Soccer – FIFA backs down on threat to fine Premier clubs who play South American players
  2. U.S. House passes abortion rights bill, outlook poor in Senate
  3. Two children killed in missile strikes on Yemen’s Marib – state news agency
  4. Study Reveals Which Humans Survived The Last Ice Age And Which Didn’t

Source Link: The Fastest Underwater Plumes On Record Reshaped The Seabed After The Tonga Eruption

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Space Might Be A Byproduct Of Three-Dimensional Time
  • “Jigsaw”-Like Fresco Made Of Thousands Of Fragments Reveals Artistic Traits Not Seen In Roman Britain Before
  • Frequent Nightmares Are A Worrying Sign Of Early Death And Accelerated Aging, Says New Study
  • UK To DNA Test All Newborn Babies In Plan To Predict And Prevent Disease
  • IFLScience We Have Questions: Why Does Snow Sometimes Look Blue?
  • New Nimbus COVID Variant Present In The UK, Infections Could Spread This Summer
  • Scientists Have Finally Measured How Fast Quantum Entanglement Happens
  • Why Earth’s Magnetic Pole Reversals Are So Fascinating
  • World First Artificial Solar Eclipse Created, The “Closest Thing” To HIV Vaccine Gets FDA Approval, And Much More This Week
  • “Remarkable” Pattern Discovered Behind Prime Numbers, Math’s Most Unpredictable Objects
  • People Are Only Just Learning What The World’s Most Expensive Cheese Is Made Of
  • The Physics Behind Iron: Why It’s The Most Stable Element
  • What Is The Reason Some People Keep Waking Up At 3am Every Night?
  • Michigan Bear Finally Free After 2 Years With Plastic Lid Stuck Around Its Neck
  • Pangolins, The World’s Most Trafficked Mammal, May Soon Get Federal Protection In The US
  • Sharks Have No Bones, So How Do They Get So Big?
  • 2025 Is Shaping Up To Be A Whirlwind Year For Tornadoes In The US
  • Unexpected Nova Just Appeared In The Night Sky – And You Can See It With The Naked Eye
  • Watch As Maori Octopus Decides Eating A Ray Is A Good Idea
  • There Is Life Hiding In The Earth’s Deep Biosphere, But Not As You Know It
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version