Undersea Volcano Threat For Italy/Undersea Volcanoes Of Asphalt In Gulf Of Mexico

An undersea volcano near Italy could erupt at any moment and launch a terrible tsunami that would have the potential to kill many people.

From the French Press Agency—

“Europe’s largest undersea volcano could disintegrate and unleash a tsunami that would engulf southern Italy “at any time”, a prominent vulcanologist warned in an interview published Monday. The Marsili volcano, which is bursting with magma, has “fragile walls” that could collapse, Enzo Boschi told the leading daily Corriere della Sera. “It could even happen tomorrow,” said Boschi, president of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV). “Our latest research shows that the volcano is not structurally solid, its walls are fragile, the magma chamber is of sizeable dimensions,” he said. “All that tells us that the volcano is active and could begin erupting at any time.” The event would result in “a strong tsunami that could strike the coasts of Campania, Calabria and Sicily,” Boschi said. The undersea Marsili, 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) tall and located some 150 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of Naples, has not erupted since the start of recorded history.”

The United States Geological Survey has more information on these submarine volcanos.

Here is a picture of an undersea volcano erupting—

I guess you are just sailing along and there it goes.

There is also something called an undersea mud volcano. They have these even in the nearby Gulf of Mexico.

These types of volcanoes seem dirty. They cover the sea floor with mud and goo.

Even more surprising then undersea mud volcanoes (At least I had never heard of them before I wrote this post) , the Gulf of Mexico may be the only place in the world where there are undersea asphalt volcanoes.

Here is how this works—

“When special microorganisms deep below the seafloor degrade petroleum, asphalt remains as a waste product. It is not unusual to find small amounts of this, but in some places in the Gulf of Mexico the asphalt covers more than a square kilometer of sea bottom. The researchers christened one of the mounds “Chapopote”, after the Aztec word for asphalt.”

These facts about asphalt volcanoes come from the Center for Marine Environmental Studies at the University of Breman. This is a university in Germany.

There is an underwater volcano in the Pacific Ocean where many eels live and where there is an odd film of yellow microbe life.

Below is a picture of that undersea volcano.

Here is a You Tube video of an undersea volcano eruption near the Pacific Ocean nation of Tonga.

The Tonga eruption took place last year. There was concern that this eruption would lead to a tsunami. Fortunately , it did not.

Here are some facts about Tonga.

It has been undersea earthquakes that have caused recent tsunamis. However, tsunamis can also be caused by undersea volcanoes.  This is just the concern about the undersea volcano near Italy.

Here is information from the United States Embassy in Japan—

“Less commonly, volcanic eruptions can initiate a tsunami – this happens in several ways: if an underwater volcano erupts, the hot lava may heat the surrounding seawater quickly and explosively; massive flows of volcanic debris such as ash can travel down the side of a land volcano and into the ocean, pushing water outwards as it does so; the top of an underwater volcano may collapse downwards, so that the overlying water also drops when compared to water that is further away”

Our Ambassador to Japan is one John V. Roos.

Here is the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center of the National Weather Service.

Here are basic facts about volcanoes from National Geographic.

I hope that things turn out okay in Italy.