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Underwater Volcano Eruption Caught on Camera

Jessica Marshall, Discovery News

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Volcano Gone Wild!

June 12, 2008 -- More than 1,800 feet beneath the Pacific Ocean, the eruptions of an undersea volcano have revealed themselves on film, including the ejection of glowing red lava and the sounds of exploding gases.

"It's the first place where we've been able to observe an active volcanic eruption underwater," said Bill Chadwick of the Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, who led the group that observed the volcano with a remotely operated vehicle.

"Even though we think about 75 percent of the world's volcanic activity happens underwater in the ocean basins, it's a lot harder to see and detect."

The team identified the site after scanning the water in the region with an instrument that detects hydrothermal plumes -- water columns that bear the signature of volcanic activity below.

"This site had really unusual chemistry, so that's what put it high on our priority list when we went back to do the dives," Chadwick said.

There are advantages to studying volcanoes deeply underwater, he said.

"The pressure subdued the explosive activity so we could get really close with the vehicle without endangering it," said Chadwick, "and we could watch the activity for an hour at a time, which is not something you can do on land with a volcano exploding in your face."

Rocks thrown up and out of the volcano land gently after tumbling through water, and the water quickly cools the hot lava and gases.

"Underwater, you can see the gases a lot easier," he added. "So we can have a much clearer view of what's going on. In air, gases are hard to see."

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Underwater Volcano Eruption Caught on Camera

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