Kavachi

Last updated
Kavachi
May 14 Kavachi eruption.jpg
Kavachi erupting on May 14, 2000
Kavachi
Summit depth20 m (66 ft)
Location
Location Solomon Islands
Coordinates 08°59′37″S157°58′21″E / 8.99361°S 157.97250°E / -8.99361; 157.97250
Geology
Type Submarine volcano
Last eruption 2022

Kavachi is one of the most active submarine volcanoes in the south-west Pacific Ocean. [1] Located south of Vangunu Island in the Solomon Islands, it is named after a sea god of the New Georgia Group islanders and is also referred to locally as Rejo te Kavachi ("Kavachi's oven"). The volcano has become emergent and then been eroded back into the sea at least eight times since its first recorded eruption in 1939. [2]

Contents

Geography

In May 2000, an international research team aboard the CSIRO research vessel FRANKLIN fixed the position of the volcano at 8° 59.65'S, 157° 58.23'E. At that time the vent of the volcano was below sea level, but frequent eruptions ejected molten lava up to 70 m (230 ft) above sea level, and sulfurous steam plumes up to 500 m (1,600 ft). The team mapped a roughly conical feature rising from 1,100 m (3,600 ft) water depth, with the volcano having a basal diameter of about 8 km (5.0 mi). [3] [4]

Eruptions

Kavachi erupting, 31 October 2016 Kavachi Eruption.jpg
Kavachi erupting, 31 October 2016

When the volcano erupted in 2003, a 15 m-high (49 ft) island formed above the surface, but it disappeared soon after. Additional eruptive activity was observed and reported in March 2004 and April 2007. [5] [6] More recent volcanic activity can be inferred from observations of discolored water around the volcano, in 2020 and January 2021. [1]

Marine life

In 2015, marine wildlife was found living inside Kavachi's crater, including the scalloped hammerhead, the silky shark, and the sixgill stingray. [7] It has subsequently been given the nickname "Sharkcano" by various media outlets. [8] [9] [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klyuchevskaya Sopka</span> Volcano on the Kamchatka peninsula, Russia

Klyuchevskaya Sopka is a stratovolcano, the highest mountain of Siberia and the highest active volcano of Eurasia. Its steep, symmetrical cone towers about 100 kilometres (60 mi) from the Bering Sea. The volcano is part of the natural Volcanoes of Kamchatka UNESCO World Heritage Site. Klyuchevskaya Sopka is ranked 15th by topographic isolation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ring of Fire</span> Region around the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur

The Ring of Fire is a tectonic belt of volcanoes and earthquake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bezymianny</span> Stratovolcano on the Kamchatka peninsula, Russia

Bezymianny is an active stratovolcano in Kamchatka, Russia. Bezymianny volcano had been considered extinct until 1955. Activity started in 1955, culminating in a dramatic eruption on 30 March 1956. This eruption, similar to that of Mount St. Helens in 1980, produced a large horseshoe-shaped crater that was formed by collapse of the summit and an associated lateral blast. Subsequent episodic but ongoing lava dome growth, accompanied by intermittent explosive activity and pyroclastic flows, has largely filled the 1956 crater. The most recent eruption of lava flows occurred in February 2013. An explosive eruption on 20 December 2017 released an ash plume rising to a height of 15 kilometres (49,000 ft) above sea level, which drifted for 320 kilometres (200 mi) NE. The volcano erupted similarly on 28 May 2022, again spewing an ash plume over 15 kilometres (49,000 ft) high. On April 7, 2023, Russia reported Bezymianny had erupted explosively again and Federal Agency for Air Transport, Rosaviatsiya, issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) and raised the aviation Color Code Red. The eruption formed a column of ash that rose to a height of 12 kilometres (39,000 ft) and was drifting to the southeast slowly. The ash plume stretched out across a distance of 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kick 'em Jenny</span> Submarine volcano in the Caribbean Sea

Kick 'em Jenny is an active submarine volcano or seamount on the Caribbean Sea floor, located 8 km (5 mi) north of the island of Grenada and about 8 km (5 mi) west of Ronde Island in the Grenadines. Kick-'em-Jenny rises 1,300 m (4,265 ft) above the sea floor on the steep inner western slope of the Lesser Antilles ridge. The South American tectonic plate is subducting the Caribbean tectonic plate to the east of this ridge and under the Lesser Antilles island arc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anak Krakatoa</span> Volcanic island in the Sunda Strait

Anak Krakatoa is a volcanic island in Indonesia. On 29 December 1927, Anak Krakatoa first emerged from the caldera formed in 1883 by the explosive volcanic eruption that destroyed the island of Krakatoa. There has been sporadic eruptive activity at the site since the late 20th century, culminating with a large underwater collapse of the volcano that caused a deadly tsunami in December 2018. There has been subsequent activity since. Due to its young age, the island is one of several in the area that are of interest to, and the subject of extensive study by, volcanologists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Submarine volcano</span> Underwater vents or fissures in the Earths surface from which magma can erupt

Submarine volcanoes are underwater vents or fissures in the Earth's surface from which magma can erupt. Many submarine volcanoes are located near areas of tectonic plate formation, known as mid-ocean ridges. The volcanoes at mid-ocean ridges alone are estimated to account for 75% of the magma output on Earth. Although most submarine volcanoes are located in the depths of seas and oceans, some also exist in shallow water, and these can discharge material into the atmosphere during an eruption. The total number of submarine volcanoes is estimated to be over one million of which some 75,000 rise more than 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) above the seabed. Only 119 submarine volcanoes in Earth's oceans and seas are known to have erupted during the last 11,700 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lava lake</span> Molten lava contained in a volcanic crater

Lava lakes are large volumes of molten lava, usually basaltic, contained in a volcanic vent, crater, or broad depression. The term is used to describe both lava lakes that are wholly or partly molten and those that are solidified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alamagan</span> Island in the Northern Marianas island chain

Alamagan is an island in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean, 30 nautical miles (56 km) north of Guguan, 250 nautical miles (463 km) north of Saipan, and 60 nautical miles (111 km) south of Pagan. It is currently undergoing resettlement since 2018, with a few people living there. The project was coordinated by the Northern Islands Mayor's office and the people there have radio contact with the mainland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raikoke</span> Russian volcanic island in the Kuril Islands

Raikoke, also spelled Raykoke, is, as of 2019, a Russian uninhabited volcanic island near the centre of the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) distant from the island of Matua. Its name is derived from the Ainu language, from the Hokkaido Ainu word "hellmouth".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Home Reef</span> Ephemeral island in the South Pacific

Home Reef is a volcanic island atop a submarine volcano in Tonga. It is located southwest of Vava'u, between the islands of Kao and Late along the Tofua volcanic arc. The island is ephemeral, and has been repeatedly built and eroded by successive eruptions in 1852, 1857, 1984, 2006, 2022, and 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcán Wolf</span> Highest mountain in the Galápagos Islands

Wolf Volcano, also known as Mount Whiton, is the highest peak in the Galápagos Islands. It is situated on Isabela Island and reaches 1,710 m (5,610 ft). It is a shield volcano with a characteristic upturned soup bowl shape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fonuafoʻou</span> Submarine volcano in Haapai, Tonga

Fonuafo‘ou, formerly known as Falcon Island, is a submarine volcano in the western part of the Ha'apai group in Tonga. The volcano has created an island several times throughout history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai</span> Submarine volcano in Tonga

Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai is a submarine volcano in the South Pacific located about 30 km (19 mi) south of the submarine volcano of Fonuafoʻou and 65 km (40 mi) north of Tongatapu, Tonga's main island. It is part of the highly active Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone and its associated volcanic arc, which extends from New Zealand north-northeast to Fiji, and is formed by the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Indo-Australian Plate. It lies about 100 km (62 mi) above a very active seismic zone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Tonga undersea volcanic eruption</span> Volcanic eruption creating a new land linking Hunga Tonga and Hunga Haʻapai islands

The 2009 Tonga undersea volcanic eruption began on 16 March 2009, near the island of Hunga Tonga, approximately 62 kilometres (39 mi) from the Tongan capital of Nukuʻalofa. The volcano is in a highly active volcanic region that represents a portion of the Pacific Ring of Fire. It is estimated that there are up to 36 undersea volcanoes clustered together in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcanoes of the Galápagos Islands</span>

The Galápagos Islands are an isolated set of volcanoes, consisting of shield volcanoes and lava plateaus, located 1,200 km (746 mi) west of Ecuador. They are driven by the Galápagos hotspot, and are between 4.2 million and 700,000 years of age. The largest island, Isabela, consists of six coalesced shield volcanoes, each delineated by a large summit caldera. Española, the oldest island, and Fernandina, the youngest, are also shield volcanoes, as are most of the other islands in the chain. The Galápagos Islands are perched on a large lava plateau known as the Galápagos Platform, which creates a shallow-water depth of 360 to 900 m at the base of the islands, which stretch over a 174 mi (280 km)-long diameter. Since Charles Darwin's famous visit to the islands in 1835, over 60 recorded eruptions have occurred in the islands, from six different shield volcanoes. Of the 21 emergent volcanoes, 13 are considered active.

References

  1. 1 2 "Kavachi". Global Volcanism Program . Smithsonian Institution . Retrieved 2010-02-26.
  2. "Kavachi". Global Volcanism Program . Smithsonian Institution.
  3. "Fiery birth of new Pacific Island". Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (via Way Back Machine). 24 May 2000. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. "Volcano Island Born". All Things Considered. US National Public Radio. 26 May 2000. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  5. "Kavachi". Global Volcanism Program . Smithsonian Institution.
  6. "Kavachi Submarine Volcano". Corey Howell, The Wilderness Lodge. Archived from the original on 2001-12-11. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  7. Sharks Discovered Inside Underwater Volcano (video). National Geographic. 9 July 2015. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21 via YouTube.
  8. Amanda Kooser. "'Sharkano': NASA Spots Eruption of Underwater Volcano Where Sharks Live". CNET . Archived from the original on 2022-05-26. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  9. "NASA captures eruption of 'Sharkcano'". CNN . 2022-05-24. Archived from the original on 2022-05-25. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  10. "Watch out for the Sharkcano! What happens when an underwater volcano erupts?". The Guardian . 2022-05-23. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2022-05-25.

Further reading