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Submarine volcanism

Deeply explosive

Volcanic activity is much more common beneath the oceans than on land, yet has been observed only rarely. Direct measurements of an eruption in the southwest Pacific Ocean reveal unexpectedly explosive activity at great depths.

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Figure 1: Olivine crystal growing in a boninite lava sample taken from a Mata volcano, northern Lau Basin.

RICHARD ARCULUS

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Correspondence to Richard Arculus.

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Arculus, R. Deeply explosive. Nature Geosci 4, 737–738 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1306

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