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 Nigg

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">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 earthquakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farallon de Pajaros</span> Uninhabited volcanic island in the Northern Marianas island chain

Farallón de Pájaros, also known as Urracas, is a small (2.3 km2) uninhabited volcanic island, the northernmost island and also farthest west in the Northern Mariana Islands chain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Active volcano</span> Geological feature

An active volcano is a volcano that has erupted during the Holocene, is currently erupting, or has the potential to erupt in the future. A volcano that is not currently erupting but could erupt in the future is known as a dormant volcano. Volcanoes that will not erupt again are known as extinct volcanoes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Rinjani</span> Volcano in Lombok, Indonesia

Mount Rinjani is an active volcano in Indonesia on the island of Lombok. Administratively the mountain is in the Regency of North Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. It rises to 3,726 metres (12,224 ft), making it the second highest volcano in Indonesia. It is also the highest point in the Indonesian province of West Nusa Tenggara. Adjacent to the volcano is a 6-by-8.5-kilometre caldera, which is filled partially by the crater lake known as Segara Anak or Anak Laut, due to the color of its water, as blue as the sea (laut). This lake is approximately 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) above sea level and estimated to be about 200 metres (660 ft) deep; the caldera also contains hot springs. The lake and mountain are sacred to the Sasak people and Hindus, and are the site of religious rituals. UNESCO made Mount Rinjani Caldera a part of the Global Geoparks Network in April 2018. Its catastrophic eruption in 1257 was the largest volcanic eruption in the last 2000 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bogoslof Island</span> Volcanic island in the U.S. state of Alaska

Bogoslof Island or Agasagook Island is the summit of a submarine stratovolcano at the south edge of the Bering Sea, 35 miles (56 km) northwest of Unalaska Island of the Aleutian Islands chain. It has a land area of 319.3 acres (1.292 km2) and is uninhabited. It is 1,040 meters (3,410 ft) long and 1,512 m (4,961 ft) wide, with a peak elevation of 490 feet (150 m). The stratovolcano rises about 6,000 ft (1,800 m) from the seabed, but the summit is the only part that projects above sea level. The island is believed to be relatively new, with the volcano being entirely below sea level before 1796, and most of the presently 300-acre island being formed by eruptions since 1900.

<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, Indonesia

Anak Krakatau is a volcanic island in Indonesia. On 29 December 1927, Anak Krakatau 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 in a large underwater collapse of the volcano, which caused a deadly tsunami in December 2018. There has been subsequent activity since. Owing 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">Paramushir</span> Volcanic island in the Kurile island chain

Paramushir is a volcanic island in the northern portion of the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It is separated from Shumshu by the very narrow Second Kuril Strait in the northeast 2.5 km (1.6 mi), from Antsiferov by the Luzhin Strait to the southwest, from Atlasov in the northwest by 20 km (12 mi), and from Onekotan in the south by the 40 km (25 mi) wide Fourth Kuril Strait. Its northern tip is 39 km (24 mi) from Cape Lopatka at the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Its name is derived from the Ainu language, from “broad island” or “populous island”. Severo-Kurilsk, the administrative center of the Severo-Kurilsky district, is the only permanently populated settlement on Paramushir island.

<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 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">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">Volcanism of New Zealand</span> Volcanic activity of New Zealand

The volcanism of New Zealand has been responsible for many of the country's geographical features, especially in the North Island and the country's outlying islands.

<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 near Tongatapu, 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 an 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.

Segula Volcano lies 1,228 miles (1,976 km) westward of Anchorage on the Segula Island in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. An inactive stratovolcano, it has not produced any historical eruptions, while barely eroded deposits on the flanks suggest that activity took place at the volcano as late as a couple of hundred years ago.

<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.
  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