NASA’s Earth Observatory has blog shared a picture taken by the Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) on Lansat 9 on May 14, 2022, showing discolored water spewing from a submarine volcano. This muddy water is visible spreading for many kilometers.
one done in 2008 Study Highlighting this, the blog says that such plumes of superheated, acidic water usually contain particulate matter, volcanic rock fragments and sulphur. A 2015 scientific expedition to the volcano found that the submerged crater is home to two species of sharks, one of which is the hammerhead shark. Apart from this, researchers at that time also found that there were also microbials that thrive in sulfur.
The shark’s survival in such conditions certainly raised many new questions for researchers about the ecology of active submarine volcanoes. In 2016, researchers talked about these questions and their research. published Wrote an oceanography article titled Exploring the “Sharkcano”.
Prior to this recent activity, major eruptions were observed at Kawachi in 2007 and 2014. Earth Observatory’s blog states that the volcano continues to erupt, and residents of nearby inhabited islands frequently report visible steam and ash.
Since its first recorded eruption in 1939, Kawachi has formed ephemeral islands on several occasions, but ocean waves have washed away these islands up to a kilometer long. The summit of the volcano is currently estimated to be 20 meters (65 ft) below sea level and its base lies at a depth of 1.2 kilometers (0.75 mi) on the sea floor.
The blog says that Kawachi is built in a tectonically active area. The volcano produces lava, which ranges from basaltic rich in magnesium and iron to andesitic rich in silica. It is known to occur fretomagmatic eruptions in which the interaction of magma and water causes large explosions, which eject steam, ash, fragments of volcanic rock.