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IMAGE: West Mato Volcano erupting in 2009. Image courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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Credit: Image courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Volcanic eruptions deep in our oceans are capable of extremely powerful releases of energy, at a rate high enough to power the whole of the United States, according to research published today.
Eruptions from deep-sea volcanoes were long-thought to be relatively uninteresting compared with those on land. While terrestrial volcanoes often produce spectacular eruptions, dispersing volcanic ash into the environment, it was thought that deep marine eruptions only produced slow moving lava flows.