Satellite picture of a plume of blemished water near the Kavachi undersea volcano captured on March 8, 2024, by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8.Close-up information of the undersea eruption, cropped from the image above.A Landsat satellite obtained this image of tarnished water drifting from the active underwater volcano.Kavachi is one of the most active submarine volcanoes in the Pacific. This conical seamount, situated in the Solomon Islands and named after a sea god of the Gatokae and Vangunu individuals, increases some 1,200 meters (3,900 feet) from the seafloor. Its summit remains simply 20 meters (65 feet) listed below sea level, which makes it easier for satellites to find stainings of the water due to volcanic activity than at much deeper undersea volcanoes.Volcanic Activity and ObservationsKavachi has erupted at least 39 times because 1939, with the latest eruptive period start in 2021, according to the Smithsonian Institutions Global Volcanism Program. In 2024, the volcano continued to stir– and satellites continued to capture pictures of stained plumes of water.The image above, gotten on March 8 by the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8, shows a plume of tarnished water near the undersea volcano. The plume drifted north-northeast towards Nggatokae Island. Vangunu Island, likewise pictured, lies about 24 kilometers (15 miles) north of Kavachi, and Papua New Guinea has to do with 800 kilometers (500 miles) to the west.The MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASAs Terra and Aqua caught pictures of similar underwater plumes near Kavachi on a number of other events in recent weeks, consisting of February 3, 15, and 23. Scientific Research and FindingsPrevious research has shown such plumes of superheated, acidic water can contain particle matter, volcanic rock pieces, and sulfur, in addition to precipitates of silicon, aluminum, and iron oxides. The color of plumes can offer clues about the composition of the particles within them. Yellow and brown plumes tend to have a higher percentage of iron, while white plumes tend to have a greater proportion of silicon or aluminum.Though Kavachi is challenging for scientists to access, a lull in activity permitted a group to explore it in 2015. The researchers observed marine life within the crater, including orange and white bacterial mats, smooth and hammerhead sharks, bluefin trevally, and snapper.The authors of a report about the expedition noted that other active submarine volcanos– Vailuluu Seamount in American Samoa and Kolumbo in Greece– are known to have highly acidic water and “kill zones” that contain carcasses of bigger animals. “It is likely that the high crater walls at these sites cause physical entrainment and concentration of vent fluids, while Kavachis crater is relatively shallow and subjected to high surface currents that permit quick blending to occur,” they wrote in the report.Geological Context and CharacteristicsKavachi formed in a tectonically active area simply 30 kilometers (18 miles) northeast of a subduction zone. The volcano produces lavas that vary from basaltic, which is rich in magnesium and iron, to andesitic, which contains more silica. It is understood for having phreatomagmatic eruptions in which the interaction of magma and water eject steam, ash, volcanic rock fragments, and incandescent bombs out of the water and into the air.NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey.
