The underwater eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano started a debate about submerged volcanoes. Are underwater volcanoes more violent than terrestrial volcanoes? This eruption, according to records, is the largest to occur in the last thirty years.
Satellites recorded in images the violence of the Hunga Tonga volcano
The eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano was so violent that it is recorded in satellite images. The record of the cameras located on satellites in space, show astonishing images. The force of nature in its pure state, without the intervention of man.
The satellites took the eruption at the precise moment and in real time. When the huge column of ash, steam and gas ascended more than 20 kilometers until it reached the Earth’s atmosphere. But the most shocking thing is the tsunami generated in the Pacific from such a violent eruption. The waves reached Japan, Hawaii, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and the main island of Tonga, Tongatapu. This island was the most affected by the tsunami, as it flooded the capital of that nation.
The strength of the Hunga Tonga volcano brought to the table the discussion of whether submarine volcanoes are more violent than terrestrial ones. These volcanoes, as their name indicates, are found under oceanic waters.
Submarine volcanoes are the most active
According to Oregon State University (OSU) records, the most active volcano systems are submerged underwater at an average of about 2600 meters. This system of submarine volcanoes is responsible for producing 75% of the magma on the entire planet each year.
These three-quarters of magma are generated within the mid-ocean ridges. OSU estimates that about three cubic kilometers of lava is dumped into the oceans each year. It should be noted that the mid-ocean ridge system are mountain ridges that are submerged in the oceans. These ridges are of volcanic origin.
Most of the volcanoes on our planet are submarine
The Institute of Geophysics of the National Autonomous University of Mexico publishes the journal Geofisicosas. There they report that 80% of the Earth’s volcanism corresponds to submarine volcanoes.
If it is estimated that 75% of the magma produced also corresponds to these volcanoes, the figure coincides. According to the University of Oregon, there are 4000 submarine volcanoes per million square kilometers in the Pacific. If you do the math, there are more than a million submerged volcanoes. It is estimated that some 75,000 of these volcanoes emerge more than one kilometer above the seabed.
Marine volcanoes form in the same way as land volcanoes do. Tectonic plates, which are rigid, move apart or move closer together. These plates, interacting, form structural changes at their edges.
When plates move apart, the edges are divergent, when they move closer together, they are convergent. These movements generate the mountain ranges of the earth and also form the volcanoes, both terrestrial and submarine.
