Underwater Discovery
William Chadwick, Jr. and a team from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration witness the first recorded underwater volcano eruption.
- By Anika Gupta
- Smithsonian magazine, September 2008, Subscribe
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Explore photos from the photography exhibit, Ocean Views
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Geologist Bernhard Edmaier has been photographing the majestic beauty of active and dormant volcanoes for over 15 years
Legend has it that the Greek mathematician Archimedes ran naked in the streets shouting "Eureka!" when, in his bath, he came up with a way to measure the purity of gold. While most modern scientists keep their clothes on, their enthusiasm for discovery remains unabated. "It's exploding like an egg!" exclaims William Chadwick Jr. of Oregon State University as he watches the first-ever video of an erupting underwater volcano, NW Rota-1. Chadwick, along with a team from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (co-sponsors of the new Ocean Hall), used a remote camera to record this 2006 event.
Click the link to the right to hear Chadwick's eureka moment and see the video that inspired it.
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Comments (4)
The name of this volcano is NW Rota-1. It is located about 60 miles north of Guam in the Mariana volcanic arc, Western Pacific.
Posted by Bill Chadwick on September 9,2008 | 02:37 PM
The depth of this site is 560 meters (1840 feet), so the ambient pressure is 56 times atmospheric. The diameter of the eruptive vent is 1-2 meters (3-6 feet), and the height of the explosions that are visible in the video is at least 3 meters (9 feet). From other observations we know the eruption plume (containing ash, etc) rose to a height of about 80 meters (260 feet) above the vent. We will be returning to this site in spring 2009 to see if it is still erupting...
Posted by Bill Chadwick on September 9,2008 | 02:34 PM
Great video. What is the location of this volcano and its depth in the ocean? Thanks.
Posted by Neal Cummings on September 1,2008 | 01:47 PM
Chadwick's video of the underwater volcano is truly exciting. However, can you give the viewer any idea of the scale? Depth, height of the explosions etc. Thank you!
Posted by Dan Jalbert on August 27,2008 | 10:56 PM