2018•Science AdvancesOpen access
The largest deep-ocean silicic volcanic eruption of the past century
Rebecca Carey, Samuel Adam Soule, Michael Manga, James D. L. White, Jocelyn McPhie, Richard Wysoczański, Martin Jutzeler, Kenichiro Tani, D. Yoerger, Daniel J. Fornari, Fabio Caratori Tontini, B. F. Houghton, Samuel J. Mitchell, Fumihiko Ikegami, Chris Edward Conway, Arran Murch, Kristen Elizabeth Fauria, Max P. Jones, Ryan C. Cahalan, Warren McKenzie
Abstract
pumice raft seen in satellite imagery, but the complexity of this event was concealed beneath the sea surface. Mapping, observations, and sampling by submersibles have provided an exceptionally high fidelity record of the seafloor products, which included lava sourced from 14 vents at water depths of 900 to 1220 m, and fragmental deposits including giant pumice clasts up to 9 m in diameter. Most (>75%) of the total erupted volume was partitioned into the pumice raft and transported far from the volcano. The geological record on submarine volcanic edifices in volcanic arcs does not faithfully archive eruption size or magma production.