Submarine Volcano No More? Bogoslof, located in the Bering Sea, is a submarine volcano…at lea

Submarine Volcano No More?Bogoslof, located in the Bering Sea, is a submarine volcano…at least for now. Most of the mountain, including the erupting vent, is underwater with just a small island of land above sea level. We posted a few weeks ago (http://bit.ly/2khoF4O) about how the eruptions, which started in December, are significantly altering the shape of this remote Aleutian Island. A satellite photo taken on January 18 during an eruptive event shows that the plume, which rose to an altitude of 9.4 km (31,000 ft) at least, is two distinct colors: white and gray/brown. The white part is mostly steam and water vapor; the top part is full of ash. It’s common for submarine eruptions to have mostly water vapor and steam because the water traps much of the ash. Bogoslof is a shallow submarine volcano and some ash has been observed in the plumes, but this is the first time it’s been such a significant amount, leading scientist to speculate that the vent may have broken through the surface of the water. Additionally, thermal data is also showing temperatures high enough to suggest lava might be above sea level. There’s no direct evidence yet that the vent has breached the surface, so a verdict has not been reached.While scientists can’t currently get close to Bogoslof and there’s no equipment on the island, they are still able to monitor the eruption using seismic data, infrasound (low-frequency sound), volcanic lightning, satellite data, and pilot observations. The island itself is uninhabited but the eruption could become an aviation hazard.REPhoto Credit:NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response Captions by Kathryn HansenReferences: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=89476http://go.nasa.gov/2kJE0Ithttps://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=311300 -- source link

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