Underwater volcano can erupted the coast of Oregon, USA

Things are warming up to hundreds of miles from Oregon coast in the United States, where Great submarine volcano is showing signs of a possible imminent eruption according to scientists.

The volcano, known as Axial Seamount, is located almost 1.6 kilometers deep over a hot geological point, where scorching streams of melted rock rise from the cloak of the earth to the crust. Volcanoes at hot points are common on the sea.

But Axial Seamount is also situated in Juan de Fuca’s dorsal – an area where two major tectonic plates (the Pacific and Juan de Fuca plates) are constantly moving away, which causes constant pressure accumulation under the planet’s surface.

The frequency of earthquakes has increased dramatically recently as the volcano inflates with a growing amount of magma, signaling that an eruption may be close, according to researchers at the Cabled Array Regional of the US National Science Foundation Observatory initiative, operated by the University of Washington, which monitors Axial Seamount activity.

“At the moment, there are a few hundred earthquakes a day, but this is still much less than we saw before the previous eruption,” said William Wilcock, a marine geophysicist and professor at the University of Washington School of Oceanography, who studies the volcano.

“I would say he will erupted at some point more at the end of this year or early 2026, but it may be tomorrow, because it is completely unpredictable,” he added.

What happens during an eruption?

During the last rash of the volcano in April 2015, the team observed about 10,000 small earthquakes over a 24-hour period, and the same is expected for the next, Wilcock said.

The magma – a melted rock under the surface of the earth – dripped from Axial Semount for a month and spread for about 40 kilometers from the bottom of the sea, he added.

The Magma Chamber in the center of the volcano has also collapsed several times in the past, creating a large crater called Caldeira.

In this region, marine life thrives thanks to the gases rich in minerals that come out through hydrothermal sources, which function as submarine geysers. Hot fluid jets containing billions of microorganisms and debris rise by cracks on the boiler surface, creating white feathers known as “Neveiras”.

During previous eruptions, the small living beings that inhabit the hydrothermal sources were burned by the lava flows, but only three months later the ecosystem had already regenerated and was flourishing again, said Debbie Kelley, director of Regional Cabled Array.

“I think this is one of the greatest discoveries we made,” said Kelley, professor of marine geology and geophysics at the University of Washington, in a statement. “Life thrives on these inhospitable environments, and volcanoes are probably one of the main sources of life in our oceans.”

Although neighboring marine life, such as fish, whales and octopuses, may feel the heat and tremors of seismic displacement, it is unlikely to be damaged. And people on land probably won’t even notice the eruption, Kelley told CNN .

“It’s not a very explosive event. You won’t see ash clouds above the water, none of that,” she said. “It’s like you put a thousand seawater from the kilauea … There may be some lava gazing, but that’s all.”

In fact, most of the planet’s volcanic activity occurs in submarine expansion centers such as Juan de Fuca’s dorsal, which experiences several small eruptions a day, according to Kelley.

“Magma is very close to the surface. It is about 1.6 kilometers deep, which is very shallow compared to many continental volcanoes, where it may be more than 12 kilometers,” said Kelley, adding that the magma viscosity, or thickness, can affect how much pressure accumulates in the magmatic camera.

Like a thick tomato sauce cooking on the stove, the most viscous magma air bubbles burst more violently than the thinnest and more fluid magma of the Seamount Axial.

How to observe

Fortunately, the relative softness of Axial Seamount makes it perfect for close human observation. The next time the volcano erupts, the observatory even plans to make a live broadcast of the event, something unprecedented, according to Kelley.

Observing an underwater volcanic eruption is not an easy task. Scientists witnessed one directly for the first time only April 29.

In the Pacific Ocean, about 2,100 kilometers west of Costa Rica, researchers in partnership with the Woods Hole Oceanographic institution (WHOI) made a submersible routine dive to collect data in the elevation of the East Pacific when they realized that the previously vibrant sources were no longer full of marine life.

Instead, the team found a burnt “barbecue of tubular worms”, as described Dan Fornari, whoi’s emeritus researcher. Orange lava lights leaked along the sea bottom before hardening in the cold water, indicating that an eruption was underway.

“It’s a very significant development,” said Fornari. “It’s a very little studied environment, because it’s hard to reach and because we need to use ingenious technology to understand it. Deep down, we are observing how this planet is built, shaped by volcanism at the bottom of the sea.”

So above as below

Unexpectedly, the observation close to Axial Semount revealed that the moment of eruption is not only dependent on what is bubbling below the surface – but also what is above.

The three most recent eruptions – in 1998, 2011 and 2015 – occurred between January and April, the period of the year the earth is moving away from the sun.

“I think we still don’t completely understand the reason for it, but it may be related to the gravitational forces of the moon influencing the volcano,” Wilcock said.

The moon orbits the earth each month, and its gravitational force moves ocean tides, causing variations of pressure at sea. As the volcano magma chamber reaches critical mass, these pressure changes exert more stress over the boiler, the crater created by previous eruptions. The pressure caused by the tall tides also causes more earthquakes, slowly forcing the camera to its break, Kelley explained.

Remember: Kilauea Volcano erupts in Hawaii

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This content was originally published in underwater volcano can erupted the coast of Oregon in the US on CNN Brazil.

Source: CNN Brasil