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> He suspects the explosion was triggered by a sudden change in the subterranean plumbing, which caused seawater to flood in. > "When you put a ton of seawater
by awb 5y ago
> He suspects the explosion was triggered by a sudden change in the subterranean plumbing, which caused seawater to flood in.
> "When you put a ton of seawater into a cubic kilometer of liquid rock, things are going to get bad fast," he says.
Seems like a catastrophic failure.
The Big Island of Hawaii constantly has lava and sea water mixing on small scales. Makes me wonder if it’s at risk of a subterranean breach as well.
It seems like this Tonga explosion took nearly everyone by surprise.
- ProAm 5y agoNo one by surprise. But what can you do? There are many places people 'shouldn't live' but the odds are in your favor given a short enough timescale.
- awb 5y agoTo clarify: the timing of the explosion took everyone by surprise, not the fact that it exploded. If there was forewarning I haven’t seen an article about it yet.
- ceejayoz 5y agoIt had been erupting since December, including an explosive one two days earlier (https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/pacific/459572/underwater-volcano-hunga-tonga-hunga-ha-apai-erupts-again https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/pacific/459572/underwater-volcano...) that prompted a tsunami alert. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunga_Tonga#December_2021%E2%80%93January_2022_eruption https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunga_Tonga#December_2021%E2%8...
- thamer 5y agoThere had been coverage of the eruption between December 29th and January 4th, and landslides due to the island's instability were certainly reported as a possible danger. Among other sources, this was covered extensively by the GeologyHub channel on YouTube which pretty much predicted this collapse.
- pixl97 5y agoLook up the GeologyHub channel on YouTube. He had been warning about the risks of landslides and the explosion risk they cause the day before.
- hugh-avherald 5y agoAlmost all volcanoes erupt because sea water hits magma.
- ceejayoz 5y agoThis isn't true. It's not an unusual cause of explosive eruptions, but Mt. St. Helens is ~50 miles from the ocean. Magma can build up pressure entirely independently of seawater-induced steam explosions.
- yread 5y agoTo be fair that also involved a glacier
- bell-cot 5y agoIIR, the Mt. St. Helens 1980 eruption mechanism was the slow build-up of a steep slope of very weak rock, while various earthquakes (associated with deep magma movements) jiggled the whole mountain. The little glaciers on top were, at best, along for the ride when the "final" 'quake turned the unstable slope into a big landslide. Which landslide also "uncorked the champagne bottle" for the main eruption.
- Arubis 5y agoJupiter’s moon Io would disagree.