Discovery of the Largest Historic Silicic Submarine Eruption

Rebecca J Carey,Richard Wunderman,Martin Jutzeler,Richard Wysoczanski

doi:10.1002/2014eo190001

Abstract

It was likely twice the size of the renowned Mount St. Helens eruption of 1980 and perhaps more than 10 times bigger than the more recent 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland. However, unlike those two events, which dominated world news headlines, in 2012 the daylong submarine silicic eruption at Havre volcano in the Kermadec Arc, New Zealand (Figure 1a; ~800 kilometers north of Auckland, New Zealand), passed without fanfare. In fact, for a while no one even knew it had occurred.

Highlights

It was likely twice the size of the renowned Mount St
An examination of satellite imagery revealed the likely location of the volcanic source of the pumice raft as Havre volcano and captured images of a plume in the atmosphere generated by the eruption
Through Bryan, de Grauw’s photos and descriptions alerted geoscientists around the world to the possibility that something extraordinary had happened in the Kermadec Arc (Figure 1a) [Global Volcanism Program, 2012]

Summary

Discovery of the Largest Historic Silicic Submarine Eruption

Helens eruption of 1980 and perhaps more than 10 times bigger than the more recent 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland Unlike those two events, which dominated world news headlines, in 2012 the daylong submarine silicic eruption at Havre volcano in the Kermadec Arc, New Zealand (Figure 1a; ~800 kilometers north of Auckland, New Zealand), passed without fanfare. There is no historical precedent for the production of a subaerial eruption column likely from 900 and potentially 1400 meters below sea level, which is a testament to the magnitude of the eruption Both the size and depth of this eruption make this event an important end-member on the spectrum of submarine explosive volcanic activity. The reports of the pumice rafts gave the experts a good idea that an eruption of some kind had occurred somewhere along the volcanic arc, and the hunt was on to find the location, nature, and full extent of the event

Clues From Satellite and Seismic Data

An Eruption at Havre?

New Volcanic Features in Detail

Future Research at Havre Volcano

Submarine Eruptions in Perspective