Deep under the sea, volcanoes can still blow their tops

摘要

A research team led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has uncovered evidence of explosive volcanic eruptions on the Arctic Ocean seafloor almost 2.5 miles deep. Scientists did not think volcanoes submerged under such intense water pressure were capable of such violent eruptions.rnResearchers found jagged, glassy fragments of rock (called pyro-clastic deposits) spread out over a 6.2-square-mile (10-square-kilome-ter) area around a series of small volcanic craters on the Gakkel Ridge. The area is a remote, mostly unexplored part of the mid-ocean ridge, the volcanic undersea mountain chain that wraps around the globe.