Many people have seen the power of volcanoes, but I believe most people have never seen underwater volcanoes, especially the eruption process of underwater volcanoes. I believe many people have some questions, such as how do underwater volcanoes work? Didn't the magma they erupte

Many people have seen the power of volcanoes, but I believe most people have never seen underwater volcanoes, especially the eruption process of underwater volcanoes.

I believe many people have some questions, such as how do underwater volcanoes work? Didn't the magma they erupted immediately solidify into rocks because of the sea water? In fact, the truth is more complicated than imagined, because there are many factors, such as seafloor pressure, igneous rocks and underwater terrain subduction, but even scientists are not entirely sure how many of these processes actually play a role!

In 2020, an underwater volcano rose from the depths of the ocean and suddenly became extremely active, triggering a series of earthquakes. According to conservative estimates by scientists, the number of earthquakes is as high as 85,000! So how did this continent survive so many earthquakes that would have been catastrophic for any region of the world? There are many places in the world where just one earthquake could have catastrophic consequences. These extraordinary 85,000 earthquakes are the Valdivia earthquake in Chile . These earthquake swarms did not occur in one day. These earthquake swarms started in August 2020 and have actually stopped by November 2020.

The Valdivia earthquake occurred around Oka Seamount, an active volcano that rises 1,000 meters from the seafloor in Bransfield Strait. Bransfield Strait is a narrow passage between the South Shetland Islands and the northwest point of Antarctica. It is theoretically speculated that the recent volcanic activity occurred not long ago, and the temperature anomalies occurred in the seawater around the seamounts. Living microorganisms and extremophiles live around the seamounts with abnormal temperatures. Scientists discovered that this place is not as simple as it seems. In fact, It also proved to be the strongest seismic activity ever recorded in Antarctica.

The region hosts a tectonic plate, which 2018 research confirmed, runs underneath the Antarctic continental plate. The movement of the Phoenix Plate created a network of fault zones that cut through the Earth's crust and opened further cracks in other parts of the icy continent. As a plate slides beneath a continental plate, a trench slowly begins to form. This is a process called subduction, which results in increased volcanic activity. Subduction is a geological process in which the lithosphere of one tectonic plate converges with the lithosphere of another plate, causing the second plate to sink beneath the Earth's mantle, such as Japan , Indonesia, and the Aleutian Islands plate are subducting.

But this is the first time it has been observed in Antarctica, as these processes tend to occur on geological timescales, rather than the best known to humans of a few months. Scientists are surprised, curious and frightened at what will happen when two continental plates collide on Earth. On the other hand, rocks began to pile up and form towering mountains, such as the Appalachian Mountains. This phenomenon caused the Himalayas to rise. It may be the collision of continental plates that causes volcanoes to appear on killer whale seamounts.

Scientists believe earthquakes are triggered by hot magma, a phenomenon called magma intrusion. Magma intrusion occurs when an igneous rock body crystallizes into solid rock. Pressure from underground increases until magma is forced through the ocean floor. While mid-ocean ridges are formed in the outer regions of tectonic plates, they can be as long as 40,000 miles long and penetrate deep into the Earth. In fact, the seafloor is formed due to mid-ocean ridges because lava erupts from the center of these seams and cools due to tectonic water pressure. Plates eventually form at the ridges and are destroyed miles away as they are The terrestrial material squeezed and melted back into the magma.

Of course, scientists have not witnessed these earthquakes with their own eyes, so they do not know the specific conditions, so they can only use instruments to measure these earthquakes. But even on one of the world's most remote continents, these instruments are powerful enough to detect the smallest earthquakes.However, after experiencing 85,000 earthquakes, scientists were surprised to find that the corresponding upper layer of King George Island only moved 10 centimeters, of which only 8 centimeters of movement was directly related to the earthquake. What really moved King George Island may have been the movement of magma beneath the island.

Scientists speculate that these powerful earthquakes triggered ruptures that reduced pressure at mid-ocean ridges, allowing magma to seep through and induce displacement. Unless scientists are skilled enough to dive to the bottom of the ocean and return safely, we have no idea what underwater volcanoes look like. Although there is no evidence of volcanic eruptions, one thing must be admitted, they are one of the most terrifying natural disasters in the world!