For a geologist like Garvin, watching the birth and advancement of a “Surtseyan island” like this is interesting, partially due to the fact that there have actually not been many other modern examples. Aside from Surtsey– which formed near Iceland in 1963 to 1967 and still exists more than a half-century later on– most brand-new Surtseyan islands get worn down away within a couple of months or years.
What likewise interests Garvin about these islands is what they may teach us about Mars. “Small volcanic islands, newly made, developing rapidly, are windows in the role of surface waters on Mars and how they might have impacted similar little volcanic landforms,” he said. “We in fact see fields of similar-looking functions on Mars in a number of areas.”
NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, utilizing elevation data thanks to Dan Slayback/NASA/GSFC. Astronaut photo ISS066-E-117965 was obtained on January 16, 2022, with a Nikon D5 digital electronic camera utilizing a focal length of 50 millimeters. NASA ground photo by Dan Slayback.
Now all of the colony is gone, along with large portions of the 2 older islands.
January 17, 2022
” This is a preliminary estimate, but we think the quantity of energy released by the eruption was comparable to someplace between 4 to 18 megatons of TNT,” said Garvin, primary researcher at NASAs Goddard Space Flight. For comparison, scientists estimate Mount St. Helens exploded in 1980 with 24 megatons and Krakatoa burst in 1883 with 200 megatons of energy.
Garvin and NASA colleague Dan Slayback dealt with several scientists to establish detailed maps of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai above and listed below the water line. They used high-resolution radar from the Canadian Space Agencys RADARSAT Constellation Mission, optical observations from the industrial satellite company Maxar, and altimetry from NASAs ICESat-2 mission. They likewise utilized sonar-based bathymetry information collected by the Schmidt Ocean Institute, in collaboration with NASA and Columbia University.
For the past 6 years, researchers from NASA, Columbia, the Tongan Geological Service, and the Sea Education Association interacted to determine how the young surface was deteriorating due to the continuous churn of waves and periodic damaging by tropical cyclones. They also kept in mind how wildlife– various types of shrubs, turfs, birds, and bugs– had actually moved from the rich ecosystems of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Haapai and colonized the more barren landscapes of the newer land.
October 11, 2019
Things changed considerably in January. For the first few weeks of 2022, the volcanic activity appeared common enough, with intermittent, small explosions of tephra, ash, steam, and other volcanic gases as magma and seawater connected at a vent near the middle of the island. The continuous Surtseyan eruptions were reshaping the landscape and enlarging the island by adding new deposits of ash and tuff to the growing volcanic cone.
” By early January, our information showed the island had broadened by about 60 percent compared to before the December activity started,” said Garvin. “The entire island had actually been totally covered by a tenth of cubic kilometer of new ash. All of this was quite regular, predicted behavior, and very interesting to our team.”
However on January 13-14, an uncommonly powerful set of blasts sent out ash surging into the stratosphere. Explosions on January 15 introduced material as high as 40 kilometers (25 miles) in altitude and potentially as high as 50 kilometers, blanketing close-by islands with ash and triggering devastating tsunami waves. An astronaut aboard the International Space Station took this picture of ash over the South Pacific.
January 16, 2022
Most Surtseyan style eruptions involve a relatively percentage of water entering into contact with magma. “If theres just a little water dripping into the magma, its like water hitting a hot frying pan. You get a flash of steam and the water burns burn quickly,” explained Garvin. “What occurred on the 15th was truly various. We dont know why– due to the fact that we dont have any seismometers on Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai– however something should have compromised the acid rock in the structure and caused a partial collapse of the calderas northern rim. Consider that as the bottom of the pan dropping out, permitting huge amounts of water to hurry into an underground magma chamber at extremely heat.”
The temperature or magma normally surpasses 1000 degrees Celsius; seawater is better to 20 ° C. The mixing of the 2 can be incredibly explosive, particularly in the confined area of a lava chamber. “This was not your standard Surtseyan eruption since of the large amount of water that had actually to be included,” said Garvin. “In truth, a few of my coworkers in volcanology believe this type of event deserves its own designation. In the meantime, were unofficially calling it an ultra Surtseyan eruption.”
” By early January, our information revealed the island had actually broadened by about 60 percent compared to prior to the December activity began,” said Garvin. What likewise interests Garvin about these islands is what they might teach us about Mars. “Small volcanic islands, freshly made, developing quickly, are windows in the role of surface area waters on Mars and how they might have impacted similar little volcanic landforms,” he said.
Ever considering that new land rose above the water surface in 2015 and signed up with 2 existing islands, Garvin and an international group of researchers have actually been monitoring changes there. The island is part of the rim of the Hunga Caldera and was the only part of the edifice that stood above water.
April 10, 2021
NASA scientists have been closely watching the development of the volcanic island near Tonga since 2015.
When a volcano in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga began emerging in late-December 2021 and after that violently took off in mid-January 2022, NASA scientist Jim Garvin and colleagues were uncommonly well positioned to study the occasions. Since new land increased above the water surface area in 2015 and signed up with 2 existing islands, Garvin and an international team of researchers have actually been keeping an eye on changes there. The team used a combination of satellite observations and surface-based geophysical studies to track the development of the rapidly altering piece of Earth.
The digital elevation maps above and listed below reveal the dramatic modifications at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai, the uppermost part of a large undersea volcano. It rises 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) from the seafloor, extends 20 kilometers (12 miles) across, and is topped by a submarine caldera 5 kilometers in diameter. The island becomes part of the rim of the Hunga Caldera and was the only part of the building that stood above water.