Geologists Discover Signs of Volcanoes Blowing their Tops in the Deep Ocean
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 12:28
in Earth & Climate
A research team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has uncovered evidence of explosive volcanic eruptions deep beneath the ice-covered surface of the Arctic Ocean. Such violent eruptions of splintered, fragmented rock--known as pyroclastic deposits--were not thought possible at great ocean depths because of the intense weight and pressure of water and because of the composition of seafloor magma and rock.