plate tectonics
by Douglas J. Lanzo
plumes of fire, sulfur and ash
erupting undersea
Magma erupts through ocean floors from the earth’s mantle when oceanic plates collide with, or tear away from, each other, with staggering force. This results in spectacular undersea volcanic activity that forges massive sea mounts from plumes of magma that thrust toward the ocean’s surface with incredible heat, speed and fury. Yellow-orange magma turns red and then further glassy black as it cools so quickly that crystals do not have time to form, spewing plumes of sulfur and billowing ash into surrounding waters.
While this activity brings death to some sea creatures, others thrive off of it, with aptly named Pompeii worms, vent shrimp, yeti crabs and giant tube worms thriving off the bacteria and superheated minerals found in abundance by these smoking-hot hydrothermal vents.
This activity is on such a massive scale that over time it can produce entire volcanic island chains, such as the Hawaiian Islands. Even when a sea mount does not become a “Mauna Kea” and pierce the ocean’s surface, it can rise for thousands of meters and form one of the highest mountains on earth. Just for the record, Hawaii’s now dormant volcano, Mauna Kea is over 10,000 meters in height when measured from its base on the Pacific Ocean’s floor, which dwarfs Mount Everest’s mere 8,849-meter height.
Further reading:
To learn more about this awe-inspiring undersea tectonic activity, I highly recommend the breathtaking 2017 BBC Blue Planet II (2017) Episode 2 “The Deep” documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough and the 2006 BBC Planet Earth Episode 11 “Ocean Deep”.
For some good reading on it, check out the Underwater Volcanoes webpage published by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution under its Ocean Learning Hub at https://www.whoi.edu/ocean-learning-hub/ocean-topics/how-the-ocean-works/seafloor-below/volcanoes/.
Author bio:
Doug is an award-winning American author and poet of over 560 internationally published poems whose debut novel The Year of the Bear won the Ames Award for YA Books and whose second book I Have Lived was named American Book Fest Novella of the Year. His Author’s website is www.douglaslanzo.com.