Earth:Brothers Volcano
Brothers volcano
The Brothers Volcano is a Pacific Ocean submarine volcano in the Kermadec Arc, 340 kilometres north east of New Zealand's Whakaari/White Island. Within its oval outline, which measures 13 km by 8 km, it contains a 3 km wide caldera with walls 300-500 m high. It is three times bigger than the White Island.[1] A dacite (dacite lava's viscosity is in between rhyolite and andesite[1]) dome rises 350 m from the caldera floor (which lies 1850 m below sea level), with a smaller dome just to its northeast. The caldera walls and the larger dome host numerous hydrothermal vents, which send plumes of hot water 750 m up through the water column. It is the most hydrothermally active volcano known in the Kermadec Arc.[2] These hydrothermal vents are also known as hot springs and have created an 8 meter high field of "black smoker" chimneys.[3] These chimneys are created when the hydrothermal fluids hit the cold water and the chemicals in solution are deposited.[1] The hydrothermal fluids are an energy source to many unique species of organisms like tubeworms and bacteria.[3] The marine life and minerals found from these chimneys are beneficial to New Zealand's economy and biotechnology industry.[1]
The volcano was created by a subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Australian Plate.[1]
It is still unknown when the Brothers Volcano last erupted, but the crater walls tell us that its last eruption was so explosive that it caused the volcano to blow out a caldera.[3] A joint expedition by the United States, New Zealand and Germany mapped the volcano in detail in 2007.[4]
Monitoring
Submarine volcanoes are not monitored by any organization, but have become a central interest in current expeditions.[1]
See also
- List of volcanoes in New Zealand
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Volcano Fact Sheet: Brothers Volcano". http://learningon.theloop.school.nz/moodle/pluginfile.php/112508/mod_resource/content/2/Volcano%20Fact%20Sheets.pdf.
- ↑ "Brothers Volcano". GNS Science. 19 Dec 2009. Archived from the original on 28 February 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110228110343/http://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/Learning/Science-Topics/Volcanoes/New-Zealand-Volcanoes/Brothers-Volcano. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Brothers Volcano". 25 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2011-02-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20110228110343/http://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/Learning/Science-Topics/Volcanoes/New-Zealand-Volcanoes/Brothers-Volcano.
- ↑ Gregory, Angela (17 August 2007). "Photo: Seabed volcano in all its glory". The New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10458258. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
- de Ronde, C. E. J., et al. (2005). Evolution of a Submarine Magmatic-Hydrothermal System: Brothers Volcano, Southern Kermadec Arc, New Zealand, Economic Geology, 100(6), 1097-1133. doi:10.2113/100.6.1097.
- "Brothers". Smithsonian Institution. https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=241150.
External links
[ ⚑ ] 34°52′15″S 179°04′00″E / 34.8708°S 179.0667°E
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