A Surtseyan cock’s-tail plume rises above the sea surface at Kavachi volcano on 17 or 18 July 1977. Additional explosions were seen 19-22 July, with vapor and ash clouds reaching several hundred feet above the sea surface. This activity is typical of submarine eruptions from Kavachi, one of the most active volcanoes of the Solomon Islands. At least eight new ephemeral islands have been formed since an eruption in 1939.

Photo by W.G. Muller, 1978 (Barrier Reef Cruises, Queensland, Australia; courtesy of D. Tuni).

This image is made available under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 license terms.

Galleries: Submarine Volcanoes

Keywords: lava water interaction | submarine eruption | Surtseyan | plume | steam | gas | cock’s-tail plume | explosive eruption | ash | ballistic ejecta | ejecta | plume

Kavachi