Underwater Volcano Axial Seamount Erupts Again
According to reports, underwater volcano Axial Seamount has erupted again, as a geologist in Oregon State had predicted earlier. The volcano is present 300 miles off the Oregon Coast. Before this, the volcano erupted four years ago and in 1998.
The reports stated that the underwater volcano does not pose any threat to humans. But a research on the volcano could help in predicting volcanic eruptions elsewhere. Dr. Bill Chadwick, an Oregon State geologist, said the volcano eruption is a common occurrence on earth, but scientists and geologists know very little about the eruptions because oceans make it very difficult to understand what has been happening beneath the surface.
In 2006, Chadwick and one of his colleagues predicted that the Axial Seamount would erupt again before 2014. Before the latest eruption, the volcano erupted in 2011. In September, 2014, they predicted that another eruption would occur in 2015 and the latest eruption has proved them right.
According to the reports, researchers have planned to start an expedition this summer where they will visit the site and use submersible vehicles to observe the location where they think the eruption has taken place. Chadwick said earthquakes of low magnitude are caused by magma forcing its way up to the surface to erupt.
It is the location where researchers can learn several things about these processes that are still mystery, Chadwick added. Eruption in 2011 pressure from the magma had pushed the sea floor up.
While providing information about the volcano, Chadwick said, “The volcano inflates like a balloon. So there's magma being fed from below and as that balloon inflates, the seafloor rises up. It's been rising up at a rate that hasn't been seen before”. Then the sea floor dropped over the course of the eruption.