2012 Kermadec Islands eruption
Major undersea volcanic eruption in the Kermadec Islands of New Zealand / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2012 Kermadec Islands eruption was a major undersea volcanic eruption that was produced by the previously little-known Havre Seamount near the L'Esperance and L'Havre Rocks[1] in the Kermadec Islands of New Zealand.[2][3] The large volume of low density pumice produced by the eruption accumulated as a large area of floating pumice, a pumice raft, that was originally covering a surface of 400 square kilometres (150 square miles), spread to a continuous float of between 19,000 and 26,000 km2 (7,500 and 10,000 sq mi)[4][5] and within three months dispersed to an area of more than twice the size of New Zealand.[6]
2012 Kermadec Islands eruption | |
---|---|
Volcano | Havre Seamount |
Start date | 18 July 2012 |
Start time | Morning |
End date | 19 July 2012 |
Type | Submarine |
Location | Kermadec Islands 31°07′13″S 179°58′07″W |
VEI | 1 |
The thickness of the raft may initially have been as high as 3.5 metres (11 feet) and was reduced to around 50 cm (20 in) within a month.[7]
Three months after the eruption, the mass had dispersed into very dilute rafts and ribbons of floating pumice clasts. Most pumice clasts became waterlogged and sank to the sea floor, while some flocks have stranded in the Tonga islands, on the northern shores of New Zealand, and eventually on the eastern coast of Australia one year after the eruption.[7]
While the eruption is officially rated as a VEI 1 by the Smithsonian Institution, studies have found that approximately 1.5 cubic kilometres of material erupted, which correlates to a VEI 5 eruption.[8]