Effects of the Tonga-Hunga Eruption

(Image not to scale.) The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption on Jan. 15, 2022, caused many effects. Some of those effects, like extreme winds and unusual electric currents were picked up by NASA’s ICON mission and ESA’s (the European Space Agency) Swarm. Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Mary Pat Hrybyk-Keith

On 20 December 2021, an eruption began on Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai, a submarine volcano in the Tongan archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean. The eruption reached a powerful climax on 15 January when it sent a tsunami racing around the world and set off a sonic boom that circled the globe twice. 

The underwater eruption blasted an enormous plume of water vapor into Earth’s stratosphere. The plume sent enough water into the upper layers of the atmosphere to fill 58,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. That’s nearly four times the amount of water vapor that scientists estimate the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines lofted into the stratosphere.

The height of the plume can reveal how much ice was sent into the stratosphere and where ash particles were released. The height is also critical for aviation safety because volcanic ash can cause jet engine failure.

The Tonga volcanic eruption created a plume of ash and water so strong it reached the mesosphere, about 50-80 km above Earth’s surface, where meteors and meteorites usually burn up. 

Researchers seek to understand the impact the eruption might have on Earth's climate. Massive volcanic eruptions like Krakatoa and Mount Pinatubo typically cool Earth’s surface by ejecting gases, dust, and ash that reflect sunlight back into space. The Tonga volcano did not inject large amounts of aerosols into the stratosphere, and the huge amounts of water vapor from the eruption may have a small, temporary warming effect, since water vapor traps heat.

The eruption of Tonga-Hunga produced a 6-acre island in the Pacific Ocean. The new island is likely to disappear due to volcanic rock degradation caused by the erosion of the waves. According to NASA, islands created by submarine volcanoes are often short-lived, though they occasionally persist for years. For example, an island formed by a 12-day eruption from nearby Late'iki Volcano in 2020 washed away after two months, while an island created in 1995 by the same volcano remained for over two decades.

Related reading: NASA report: "Tonga Eruption Blasted Unprecedented Amount of Water Into Stratosphere"; Volcanic Eruptions and Climate

Kilauea's Bubbling Lake

 

According to the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory the newly-formed lake inside Kilauea volcano is almost 130 feet deep, 880 feet long and 430 feet wide. The temperature of the water at the surface is now between 160 and 180 F, with temperatures beneath potentially higher. This makes the lake one of the world's hottest bodies of water. Scientists are using thermal cameras to monitor temperatures.

The water in the volcano's belly began to form a lake after the volcano erupted in 2018. In July 2019, helicopter pilots began to notice water pooling in the lowest part of the crater. Since then, water levels have risen steadily. Today, the lake has an area larger than five combined football fields. The water color is rust brown due to chemical reactions.

In May 2018, lava poured from fissures to the east, the lake swiftly drained and part of the caldera floor collapsed. This lowered the base of the volcano to the level of the water table. Don Swanson, at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory explains, “We know that the crater floor dropped a little more than 70 meters below the water table in 2018. Any time that you punch a hole below the level of the water table, water is eventually going to come in and fill that hole.”

Kilauea has an explosive history. Now scientists are concerned about the possible effects of the water coming into contact with the magma. The magma could rise up the conduit and intersect with the lake, causing a steam explosion. Or the crater floor could collapse and the water drop to a zone where it would become steam. Either scenario is likely to produce a steam explosion.

Related reading: Deadly Lava Lake is Bubbling; Volcanic Eruptions and Climate

Floating Stones

A large accumulation of pumice has been drifting in the Southwest Pacific towards Australia. The point of origin of this pumice raft is a submarine volcano in Tongan waters. The highly porous pumice is of such low density that it floats.

Since August, this raft of pumice has been moving closer to Australia. Researchers were eager to identify the source and an image of the ESA satellite Copernicus Sentinel-2 taken on 6 August 2019, showed clear traces of an active underwater eruption. The volcano has been named Volcano F.

The debris from the eruption is expected to reach the Great Barrier Reef in late January and early February.

Read more here and here.

Volcanic Eruptions and Climate

The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. (Proverbs 3:19, 20)

Scientists have identified 10 main factors that influence Earth's climate. They are shown on this chart.

In this article, we consider the effect of volcanic eruptions on climate. We also explore the way in which volcanism produces new islands, a phenomenon that was observed by ancient peoples.

Volcanism is the process by which land is created through the release of molten magma from the earth's core. Submerged volcanoes are known as seamounts. When underwater volcanoes erupt, the lava erupts to form an undersea ridge. Layers of lava build until a ridge breaks the sea's surface to form an island. This process produces sediment and rock. 

Volcanism takes place both above and below the Earth's surface. When molten lava reaches the surface geologists say that it is extrusive volcanism. When molten magma cools and hardens beneath the surface of the Earth, it is called intrusive volcanism. Molten magma that cools and hardens deep beneath the surface of the Earth is called plutonic volcanism.

The young earth had many active volcanoes. Some were above the surface (extrusive) and others were beneath the surface (intrusive). Many volcanic eruptions took place under the sea. According to Genesis 1 God separated the dry land from the sea as one of the first acts of creation. We can imagine a great sea with steam rising from deep underwater fissures in the earth. Now imagine volcanoes rising up from the sea.

When volcanic islands emerged from the sea they were battered by wind and tidal wave action that caused the peaks to erode and the land to spread.


The oldest descriptions of the first dry land

The emergence of dry land from a cosmic sea is described in the oldest religious narratives. One of the oldest creation accounts is found among the ancient Egyptians. They envisioned the first place in the world as a mound emerging from the waters of a universal ocean. Here the first life form was seen as a lily, growing on the peak of the primeval mound. The emerging mound was named TaTJaNuN, a reference to TT (twin peaks) and nun (water). TTJNN likely means the "pillars of God in the water" and is a reference to volcanic peaks emerging from the universal ocean.  I Samuel 2:8 states that these "pillars of the earth" belong to God. (Also see Psalm 75:2,3; and Job 9:6.)

Sumerian commercial records, the Egyptian Coffin Texts, and the Hebrew Scriptures all point to the belief of the ancient Afro-Asiatic peoples that the dry land earth emerged from a watery chaos. In the Coffin Texts we read these words from the Creator, "I was the one who began (everything), the dweller in the Primeval Waters. First Hahu emerged from me and then I began to move."

Ha-hu is the wind that separated the waters above from the waters below and caused the erosion of the dry land so that it spread out. In Hebrew the Spirit that moved over the water at the beginning (Gen. 1) is called ruach, and ruach also means breath or wind. It is equivalent to the ancient Akkadian En-Lil, meaning Lord Wind.

This conception of how the dry land was formed was carried into lands where the Proto-Saharan Nilotic rulers established territories. This includes Mesopotamia and parts of India and Pakistan. In Hindu and Buddhist mythology the mound that rose from the sea is called Mount Meru. It emerged from the center of the Cosmic Ocean and according to the Hindu cosmology, the Sun and 7 visible planets circled the emerging mountain.

Volcanic eruptions and climate

The gases and dust particles spewed into the atmosphere during volcanic eruptions influence climate by shading the planet from solar radiation. Depending on the eruption the cooling effect can last for months or years.

Rain can clear the particles from the air, but the rain sometimes has a toxic effect on plants, animals, and water systems. 

Many of the minerals that are needed by the human body for good nutrition come from volcanic dust that is dispersed across the earth's surface. Volcanic deposits can develop into some of the richest agricultural lands on earth. Crops planted in volcanic soil are nutrient rich. Volcanic ash slowly releases nutrients that the human body needs to be healthy.

Related: Watch this video of a volcanic eruption in Hawaii.

Related reading: New 6-Acre Island Emerged Near Tonga