Submarine Volcano Activity

Posted: 2/5/2020

Nobody knows exactly how many of the over 1 million identified submarine volcanoes are active. However, we know for sure that volcanic activity can have tremendous effects on global climate (e.g. eruption of Mount Tambora leading to the year without summer in 1816).

A recent article in Nature exemplifies our poor knowledge about submarine volcanic activity (see S1, S2). It took about 2 years to confirm in 2019 a major submarine volcanic activity near the Mayotte islands.

Sources (S):

1. https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wissen/erde-klima/seltsame-erdbeben-verraten-den-ausbruch-eines-gewaltigen-untermeerischen-vulkans-vor-der-insel-mayotte-16603961.htm
2. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0505-5 (1/6/2020)
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_volcano