Submarine volcanic eruptions or underwater volcanoes are also quite scary. They are the characteristic of rift zones.

In rift zones, the topmost ocean basins are where crustal plates are being formed.

The basins are also called seafloor spreading centers. Since the region is present where the tectonic plates move away from each other, they are called so.

The effects of the underwater volcanic eruptions will not be visible from above the surface. 

Initially, the eruptions will cause by rock production which is called basalt. Basalt is the main rock that forms the oceanic crust.

The underwater volcanic eruptions are as same as normal ground and mountain volcanoes. But, when the submarine volcanoes erupt, the earth’s crust gets deformed. If you look closer, it will resemble the Hawaiian volcanic eruptions!

Submarine basalt flows with a “pillow” shape. It exhibits the flow type’s characteristic of basalt eruptions on land.

What All Can Be Learned Under Submarine Volcano Knowledge?

• Styles of volcanic eruptions 
• Lava compositions
• Frequency and volume 
• Submarine landslides
• Structure of the flanks of volcanoes
• Evolution of hydrothermal systems
• History of the oceanic volcanoes
• Biogeography of ocean islands 

What is Subduction Zone?

Submarine or underwater volcanoes erupt in places where the crustal plates collide with each other. One of the plates dives beneath the other and is remolded.

Such places are called subduction zones. Here, the eruption style is completely different from the other eruptions.

The rock type here is andesite, which is a product of the plate being meted. Andesitic lavas have high viscosity and high gas content, thus they are considered to be more violent.

Let Us See the Top 10 Most Incredible Under Water Volcanoes in the World:

• Bounty Seamount:

Bounty seamount is one of the underground volcanoes located in the Pacific Ocean. Its depth is nearly 420 meters.

At a height of 3950 meters, the volcano is 62 miles away from Pitcairn Island. 

The volcano was discovered in 1989. It is a conical shape volcano, with 310 cubic kilometers of volume. The volcano is composed of alkali basalt, trachyandesite, and trachyte.

• Bowie Seamount:

Bowie seamount is one of the biggest submarine volcanoes. Located in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, the volcano is 80 km away from Haida Gwaii.

Bowie seamount is also called Bowie bank. The volcano is lying on the Pacific plate which in turn is a large segment of the earth’s surface.

The volcano is adjacent to two other volcanoes called Hodgkins Seamount on its northern flank and Graham Seamount on its eastern flank. 

• Campli Flegrei Mar Sicilia:

Campi Flegrei del Mar Di Sicilia is a spot of submarine volcanoes which is located southwest of Sicily.

It includes the vent of Graham Island, which erupted and then emerged above sea level in 1831. It also encompasses a larger volcano called the Empedocles. 

The last eruption occurred in 1867.

• Ferdinandea Island:

Ferdinandea Island is also called Graham Island or Graham Bank. The volcano is located in the Mediterranean Sea near the island of Sicily.

Since 300 BC, any disasters took place four times.

The top of the island is 20 feet below sea level. The island’s appearance happened to be noted in July of 1831.

But again in 1832, the island above the sea level was completely washed away by the wind and the waves of the Mediterranean Sea. 

• Home Reef:

The home reef is also one of the ancient and scary underground volcanoes. The top surface of the Home reef volcano was broken down by waves.

The volcano is located in the South Pacific.

Home Reef was seen on the surface during island-building eruptions in 1852, 1857, 1984, and 2006.

After an explosion on 2006 august 8, Home Reef emerged as an island. After the explosion, a large amount of floating pumice swept across Fiji.

In October 2006, the floating pumice reached almost the same size as it did in 1984.

• Healy:

The volcano’s name originates from the British-Australian explorer Captain Jake Healy. He was the first one to write the volcano in his journal after noticing Volcanic glass in the water while he was fishing.

Healy is a huge submarine volcano that is located among New Zealand‘s the Kermadec Islands. 

The massive eruption of the Healy volcano occurred in 1360. The explosion created a massive caldera.

• Marsili Volcano:

Marsili volcano is one of the best and incredible submarine volcanoes located in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The volcano is about 175 kilometers south of Naples.

The peak and crater of Marsili volcano are about 450 m below the sea surface.

The volcano is a fragile-walled structure, made of low-density and unstable rocks.

The Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) said that the Marsili volcano could erupt at any time.

The explosion might make a collapse that would release vast amounts of magma in an undersea eruption. This may even lead to a landslide that could trigger destructive tsunamis.

• Banua Wuhu:

Banua Wuhu is a submarine volcano located in the Sangihe Islands, Indonesia.

It is 45 km south of Awu. The height of the volcano is more than 400 m from the seafloor.

It forms a shallow shoal at 5 m depth. 

Banua Wuhu’s explosions created many temporary islands, which were later destroyed by waves.

• Bear Seamount:

The Bear Seamount is a flat-topped underwater volcano present in the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the oldest volcanoes of New England. The bear seamount is more than 100 million years old.

It was originated when the North American Plate moved over the New England hotspot.

The volcano is located inside the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, to protect the seamount’s biodiversity.

• Ampere Seamount:

Ampere seamount is one of the largest submarine volcanoes in the world.

The seamount is about 90 x 40 km. 4500 meters above sea level, the volcano erupts.

Scientists and geologists warned that the volcanic eruption may cause severe damage in land and in sea.

Conclusion:

Basically, all volcanoes are dangerous. Land or under water doesn’t matter. The damage will be as high as in each other’s case. 

Stay Safe!