From Indonesia to Iceland, hundreds of islands across the globe were formed by once so-called submarine volcanoes. Submarine volcanoes are exactly what they sound like: volcanoes located beneath the ocean’s surface.
While more than 70 percent of volcanic activity occurs underwater, scientists are somewhat in the dark when it comes to understanding underwater volcanoes because the eruptions are cloaked from view by thousands of feet of water. They do know that submarine volcanoes behave differently than terrestrial ones because they erupt into water instead of air and at a huge range of ocean pressures. In addition to the fascinating science behind them, underwater volcanoes have had a profound impact on humanity throughout history, from climate change to transporting marine ecosystems thousands of miles across oceans, even to inspiration behind artwork.
Dive deep with volcanologist Samuel Mitchell as he explains what is known about the volcanoes that lie beneath the surface of our oceans and why we should be both curious and cautious about them.
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