What happens when an active volcano under the sea (below sea level) Erupts?
We all know what happens when a fully active volcano erupts. It spits molten lava into the sky and flows down to the base and surrounding environment.
We've seen this countless of times on documentary channels or even in movies like 'Pompeii' the movie.
Personally I'd like to know what happens when the volcano is under water and erupts under water. Does it make the water boil? Does it kill the fishes? Does the lava solidify immediately because of the water?. A lot of questions I'd like answers to and I'm sure others would want to learn as well
if an undersea volcano erupts there will be two things, namely;
1. Will Cause Tsunami Waves
This is the reason why underwater volcanoes are potentially dangerous compared to mountains located on land. Tsunamis are a follow-up effect that starts from a volcanic eruption that disrupts and impacts volcanic eruptions such as the equilibrium of sea levels so that the emergence of waves will be even higher when approaching the coastline. Although the tsunami which was caused by volcanic eruptions like this is rare but needs to be watched especially for people who live on the sea coast that are located close to volcanoes.
Like the volcano located in the Sunda trough 330 kilometers southwest of the city of Bengkulu, which is known to be 50 kilometers in diameter and has a height of 4600 meters. The peak of the volcano is around 1200 meters above sea level and if it erupts it will cause a tsunami wave that is expected to wipe out the Enggano and coastal islands of Bengkulu.
2. Damage to existing biological resources at sea
Just like volcanic eruptions in general, volcanoes located at the bottom of the ocean can also cause various damages such as coral reefs and living things in them. This of course will disturb the marine ecosystem around the eruption location.
Although under the sea, incandescent lava released by the mountain is still at a high temperature, reaching hundreds of degrees Celsius. Such high temperatures cannot be accepted by living things in the sea so that it will cause mass death of organisms, especially those that cannot move like coral reefs and others.