Underwater volcano erupting for weeks could birth a new island in the Pacific

An underwater volcano has been erupting in the southwestern Pacific Ocean since early May, sending giant steamy-white plumes 10,000 feet above the ocean surface. The volcano sits in the Bismarck Sea, along the Titan Ridge just off the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It is also releasing a volcanic rock called pumice that is floating out into the sea. Scientists say this could lead to the formation of a new island, a geological occurrence rarely ever seen in satellite images. They first suspected volcanic activity in this region on May 8 after seismometers detected several earthquakes.

Later, satellite images by NASA’s Aqua and Terra showed volcanic plumes rising above the sea. There is no set rule for how long underwater volcano eruptions could last. In 1972, one eruption 16 kilometres away from the current one lasted only four days, and another one in 1957 in the same sea went on for nearly four years.

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This underwater zone in the Pacific is believed to be quite deep, as shown by bathymetry. However, experts say that looking at the current volcanic activity, it seems it is quite shallow. Simon Carn, a volcanologist at Michigan Tech, told EarthSky, “There must be a lot of hot material near the surface to generate so many thermal anomalies. This suggests a fairly shallow eruption vent, much shallower than what’s implied by the existing bathymetry.”

New island could form in the Pacific

Recent satellite images suggest that this event is changing the underwater landscape, and there is a high chance that a new island will emerge from the eruption. Jim Garvin, the chief scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said, they are "eagerly waiting to see if a new island is about to be born" as this is something they have "only rarely been able to observe with satellites as it happens." This would be an opportunity to see how plants and animals take over the new island.

Submarine volcanoes

Oceans continue to remain a mystery since humans have only explored and studied about 5 per cent to 10 per cent of the underwater areas. Only about 28.7 per cent of the global seafloor has been mapped. The majority is it still harbours species and formations that we have yet to see. Underwater or submarine volcanoes make up for roughly 75 per cent of Earth's magma output, and outnumber the ones on land.