Science Behind Hunga Tonga Volcano Eruptions 2022-01-15

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano in Tonga on January 15th produced a large and destructive tsunami through a new volcanic eruption. This video explains the Earth science behind the event and how the tsunami was created. We also compared other significant volcano eruptions and tsunami events. Please consider donating to the UT Dallas Geoscience Studio and Geonews Program: https://giving.utdallas.edu/gss Chang, SJ., Ferreira, A. & Faccenda, M. Upper- and mid-mantle interaction between the Samoan plume and the Tonga–Kermadec slabs. Nat Commun 7, 10799 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10799 Timm, Christian, Daniel Bassett, Ian J. Graham, Matthew I. Leybourne, Cornel EJ De Ronde, Jon Woodhead, Daniel Layton-Matthews, and Anthony B. Watts. "Louisville seamount subduction and its implication on mantle flow beneath the central Tonga–Kermadec arc." Nature communications 4, no. 1 (2013): 1-9. Original resources Bathymetry (source: GEBCO) Photogrammetry (source: AGU) DEMs from 2015-01-19 to 2017-09-19 Bathymetry (source: NOAA): Extract (North/West: -20.45 / -175.5; South/East: -20.7 / -175.25) from bathymetric grid from the NCEI Multibeam Bathymetry Mosaic. The depth values are in meters, stored as 32-bit floating point values. The cell size is 3 arcseconds (approx. 90m). 2019 Whakaari / White Island eruption (Wikipedia) Tonga (Wikipedia) Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program Krakatoa is still active, and we are not ready for the tsunamis another eruption would generate https://theconversation.com/krakatoa-... References: Stern, R.J., 2002. “Subduction Zones” Reviews of Geophysics, 40, 10.1029/2001RG000108 Stern, R.J. 2010. The Anatomy and Ontogeny of Modern Intra-Oceanic Arc Systems. Kusky, T. M., Zhai, M.-G. & Xiao, W. (eds) The Evolving Continents: Understanding Processes of Continental Growth. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 338, 7–34. Stern, R.J., Scholl, D., and Fryer, G. 2016. Convergent Plate Margin Hazards. Plate Tectonics and Natural Hazards. In Eds. Duarte, J. and Schellart, W., Plate Boundaries and Natural Hazards, Geophysical Monograph 219, AGU 77-98. #geonews#utdgss