Researchers Find Largest Underwater Volcanic Eruption Which Created An Island
A volcano popped out of nowhere in Africa in the year 2018. It left scientists perplexed, until they started following its birth, which revealed the innermost secrets of Earth
Researchers have found evidence of the largest underwater eruption ever, which triggered a gigantic volcano to prop up from the ocean.
A strong seismic event in 2018 between Madagascar and East Africa led researchers down a path of fact finding. They discovered that within a few days after the island showed up out of nowhere, an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale was traced to underwater volcanic activity.
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A year later in February 2019, researchers mapped the seafloor using sonar to assess the seismic event in detail. For this, they scanned 5,343 square kilometres.
The results were astounding! Researchers found that at least 17,000 seismic events rocked the seafloor between February and May 2019 approximately 48 kilometres beneath the ocean floor.
Quickly, scientists dubbed it "highly unusual" and set out to understand the origins of this volcanic island which showed up out of no where.
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Earth's secrets revealed
Scientists created a model, a sort of Big Bang for the volcano and found that the island came into being owing to "deep reservoirs" and "drainage systems" spread across the Earth's lithosphere (the solid crust of the planet as well as the solid part of the Earth's mantle).
According to scientists, such deep seated networks of seismic movement had never been observed earlier in volcanology until the island was pursued by scientists.
The study was undertaken by several French government institutions and headed by the University of Paris.
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Such seismic events help scientists understand the processes that create volcanoes on Earth and reveal the true nature of the innards of Earth's core to us. In fact, researchers claim that the Earth's lithosphere sustained considerable damage to give rise to the new volcano, as reported by Nature World News.
Did you think earthquakes were as simple as the movement of tectonic plates? Let us know how your understanding has changed after reading this account. For the latest and quirkiest in the world of science and technology, keep reading Indiatimes.com.
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