WHAT IS HAPPENING AT WHITE ISLAND VOLCANO??? New Zealand/Kermadec & South Pacific QUAKE/VOLCANO WATCH

love you back, jack

thank you, is it your thread?

Thread: Australia and New Zealand are not nations - they are extensions of Britain. Flags are proof.

lols

yeah blessings

cool, i will check it out now xx

Why? It's probably the safest place to be if there's a mega-tsunami on the way.

Why would it be did you see what happened here in 64' with tsunami wave?

yeah i fully agree with you, a ship would be the safest place in a mega-tsunami, and even in a mega-quake

but i was thinking more of violent eruption, shooting rocks, lava and stuff, that wouldn't be very nice on a ship

also i just think that even if they have suspicions there might be an eruption out there, its not the time for kids to be there

tongariro has just proved how the scientists can be taken by surprise

New submarine eruptions observed in the Kermandec Islands (New Zealand)

[link to www.volcanodiscovery.com]

A submarine eruption has taken place a few days ago in the Kermandec Islands. The eruption was not directly observed, but a new large pumice raft has been spotted by NZ navy and others. The pumice is drifting 85 nautical miles south-west of Raoul Island on Thursday night (9 Aug).
The raft is 250 nautical miles long in length and 30 nautical miles wide, about 26,000 squake kilometer in size, i.e. roughly the size of Belgium, and can be seen on satellite pictures. This suggests that the eruption was significant in size.
It is not exactly known from which of the submarine volcanoes the eruption was from, but the most likely candidate is the Monowai seamount nearby, which is one of the most active volcanoes in the region and has in the past had eruptions almost every one or 2 years.

Rapid Rates of Short Submarine Eruptions Measured at Monowai in the Kermadec Islands
May 14, 2012

I saw (and was sent) a lot of articles about the findings from Anthony Watts and others in Nature Geosciences on the submarine volcanism in the Kermadec Islands north of New Zealand. A group of geologists were lucky enough to stumble across an eruption of Monowai in 2011 and in doing so, they set off a series of discoveries that seem to indicate that Monowai is a very active submarine volcano. Monowai is a fairly complex caldera volcano that has seen quite a bit of activity that has been captured either through subsurface acoustics or by finding the telltale signs of an eruption beneath the sea – discolored, bubbling water, pumice rafts – stuff like what we saw during last year’s activity at El Hierro. Watts and his collaborators were able to carefully map the volcano to find what the changes at Monowai have been during these eruptive periods and it boils down to something we find familiar for terrestrial volcanoes: collapse and healing, sometimes quite rapidly.


If you’re a close watcher of volcanic activity, you know that if a volcano erupts andesite, dacite to rhyolite, you can produce sticky domes of lava that can oversteepen and collapse. That is what happens on a regular basis at places like Soufriere Hills on Montserrat and Shiveluch in Kamchatka (amongst many others). These domes or spins can become incredibly impressive – the spine that formed at Pelee in Martinique in 1902-1903 was almost 300 meters tall and it eventually collapsed in 1903. However, these examples are all from terrestrial volcanoes.

[link to www.wired.com]

Sleeping giants rumble noisily awake

The twin eruptions of Mt Tongariro and White Island this week have highlighted how our volcanic landscape can violently change without warning at any moment, writes Jamie Morton

Slumped over a dining table at Papakai Marae and nursing a cup of coffee, Bill Albert looks weary.

A kilometre or so down Lake Rotoaira Rd, where the tarseal slips under a centimetre of stodgy grey ash, other sleep-deprived locals survey the sudden mess made by Mt Tongariro and chuckle about their community eruption awareness meeting a few days before.

The mountain, looming dramatically over their valley a few minutes' drive west of Turangi, had been belly-aching since the middle of July and it was a matter of if, not when, so the scientists told them.

That was last Wednesday.

"We just had no idea it was going to happen so soon," said Bill Albert.

Sarah Crump, 30km away in National Park, felt a thump just before midnight.

Dave Allan, whose nearby house was swiftly painted grey, heard a "deep boom".

Malcolm Haitana described a noise like the roar of a jet engine, and a beautiful flashing plume climbing kilometres into the moonlit sky, then showering the landscape with muck for 2km around.

At a press conference the same morning, GNS vulcanologist Brad Scott spoke of a volcano which sneaked up on scientists and roared into life without warning.

There couldn't have been a better example of the uncertainty even the best science faces when predicting eruptions.

In an interview with the Weekend Herald last month, two weeks after a series of tremors below the eruption site pushed alert levels up, Mr Scott recalled how the 10 months before Mt Ruapehu's 1995 eruption also yielded few signs it was priming to blow.

"Even today, looking back, there's nothing that races out of the woodwork to say that Mt Ruapehu's biggest eruption in 50 years was going to kick off."

Devastating earthquakes and tsunamis have been more visible in headlines than volcanoes in the past few years, yet the ever-present volcanic threat is just as real.

New Zealand, spread across two plates and on the Pacific Ocean's explosive Ring of Fire, is home to a dozen volcanic sites under regular watch.

Three have alert levels above zero, and two are displaying minor eruptive activity.

Each second, data from seismic sensors throughout the country is transmitted to GNS Science's Wairakei Research Centre.

Patterns which differ from baseline data are closely analysed and, as happened on Mt Tongariro last month, teams are sent to the site to test the geochemistry.

GNS is New Zealand's principal watchdog on volcanic activity, and has the authority to raise alert levels at any moment, setting off a seriesof actions which could includemass evacuations and diversion of flights.

But the timing of quick-fire eruptions such as Tongariro's on Monday is notoriously hard to pick, even after the warning flags have gone up.

"A lot of what we try to do is emphasise that uncertainty," GNS head of vulcanology Gill Jolly said.

"It's just a case of this is one scenario and there may be other scenarios that go in a totally different direction.

"We can forecast a 20 per cent chance of an eruption happening tomorrow, but we can't say 2pm on Tuesday."

Minor eruptions within the volatile Taupo volcanic zone - as also seen at Mt Ruapehu five years ago - could happen with little warning each decade.

Luckily, the biggest bangs we could face - rare and extreme caldera eruptions - would be unlikely without months,or years, of notice.

"One of the difficulties, however, is none of these huge eruptions have been monitored in historic times, so we can only really speculate about what we might see," Dr Jolly said.

"We certainly would expect a lot more ground deformation and gas, but until it happens we just don't know."

Our best-known example, the Hatepe or Taupo eruption around 1800 years ago, would have created effects visible in China and Rome and fired a devastating 1.5km-high pyroclastic flow that covered the landscape with ash and pumice for 80km around.

A Bay of Plenty scenario described in a 2005 Civil Defence report, serious enough to involve a pyroclastic flow of 10km to 15km, lists effects as deaths, injuries in less severely affected areas, ash-laden roofs collapsing and vegetation and buildings igniting.

Add to that the chaos caused by food and medical supplies being cut off, ash polluting household water tanks and clogging vehicle fuel filters and power blackouts.

"I think it's very unlikely in my lifetime that I'll see something on the scale of a Taupo eruption ... and I'm glad about that," Dr Jolly said.

It was more possible the next 50 years could bring worrying but benign signs of unrest in one of our three caldera volcanoes - Taupo, Mayor Island and Okataina, whose most recent display was the 1886 Mt Tarawera eruption which killed 153 people and buried the Pink and White Terraces.

"And eruptions come in an enormous range of sizes," she said.

"Of the 26 or 27 eruptions in Taupo over the last 23,000 years," Mr Scott said, "you could have watched 10 or 12 of those from a waterfront cafe ... but three of them could have been watched from a cafe in Sydney."

He was sure of seeing a significant eruption on his watch at rowdier White Island, whose minor eruptions this week were the first in a decade, at Mt Tongariro, which is also carrying an alert level of two, or at neighbouring Mt Ruapehu, also showing signs of unrest at Level 1.

Of our sleeping volcanoes most likely to wake next, Mr Scott has his bets on Mt Taranaki, but its first bang since 1775 could still be hundreds of years away.

The threat it posed was more worrying, he said - more than 85,000 people live within 30km of the mountain today, 40,000 in high-priority evacuation areas.

The full volcanic arsenal was there - lahars gushing down the mountain's watercourses, pyroclastic flows and sector collapses spreading up to 20km from the vent, lava flows reaching up to 10km and a near-certain ashfall threatening our dairy hinterland and source of natural gas.

Just as frightening would be the toll of even a small, localised eruption in the Auckland volcanic field, home to almost 50 volcanic centres and around 530,000 people.

Scenario plans assume buildings and infrastructure within 3km of an erupting vent would be destroyed by an initial surge of hot gas, steam and rocks and ash would fall over most of the greater Auckland area - up to 10cm thick near the vent.

Ash and acid rain would pollute water supplies and probably destroy sewerage infrastructure.

Auckland International Airport would be closed for weeks and insured losses could be in the order of $1 billion to $2 billion.

None of Auckland's existing volcanoes were likely to erupt again, Mr Scott said, but the Auckland field was geologically young and potentially active.

GeoNet began upgrading seismic monitoring technology of the field in 2006, increasing the number of stations and sites with sensors in deep boreholes.

But although the field was monitored to detect magma movement within the earth's crust, the location of the next vent and the area which would have to be evacuated might not be known until an eruption was imminent.

"The science of it all is fantastic to be involved in," Dr Jolly said, "but in terms of the responsibilities we have, the stress levels can just peak in some ways."

How often did she imagine the worst?

"Every time I switch on my computer in the morning and look at what the data is telling you.

"But if you got too scared constantly thinking of a Taupo-style eruption, you wouldn't be able to do your job properly," she said.

"You just have to be mindful all the time."

If there was any message scientists wanted to push, Mr Scott said, it was to have an emergency plan and a survival kit.

"You just never know when things are going to change."

For information on preparedness, visit www.getthru.govt.nz

[link to www.nzherald.co.nz]

50/50 chance Tongariro will blow again

[link to www.nzherald.co.nz]

Scientists say there is still a 50/50 chance that Mount Tongariro could erupt - and it could be at any time.

Volcanologists studying rocks and ash that were thrown up by this week's blast kept a cautious two kilometre radius from the mountain's crater.

GNS volcanologist Brad Scott told APNZ said the major finding was there was no fresh lava, only existing rock.

"It's what you'd expect to see,'' he said.

"There's still a 50/50 call as to it could stay as it is or it could enhance.''

He said a on flight over the mountain on Thursday, scientists measured "a couple of thousand tonnes'' of sulphur dioxide gas, which indicated molten lava was bubbling inside.

"And whether or not that molten material carries on to the surface or stops where it is - we just don't have any strong indications either way at the moment.''

Indications an eruption was imminent included more earthquake activity and larger volumes of gas coming out of the crater.

Mr Scott said the best case scenario was a couple of weeks' notice of an eruption "or it could be a lot shorter''.

"The mountain's in an eruptive episode, it's active, it could do what it pleases.''

Another GNS scientists, Mike Rosenberg, said both White Island, 51km north of Opotiki in Bay of Plenty, and Mt Tongariro were at low levels of activity, with small earthquakes continuing.

"White Island continues to produce the plume that sometimes contains a bit more ash than other times,'' he said.

"Tongariro is about the same. People would have seen some very nice steam plumes.''

Mr Rosenberg said the plume's visibility was the result of calm weather and cold air allowing the steam to rise.

Any larger eruption at Mt Tongariro was likely to be on a relatively small scale, similar to eruptions at Mt Ngauruhoe in the 1970s, GNS said.

Analysis by Massey University of ashfall taken from Mt Tongariro earlier this week found moderate levels of the potentially toxic chemical fluorine.

Tyler Mannison says:
August 12, 2012 at 14:57
NASA satellite image of the Tongariro eruption

[link to upload.wikimedia.org]

Reply
Lucas Wilson says:
August 12, 2012 at 15:01
Hello Everyone. 4 New Zealand volcanoes have erupted. So heres a roundup of the estimate VEI’s.

Unknown Source (produced pumice raft) = VEI 4 or 5 (Carl Le Strange)
Monowai Seamount = VEI 2 or 3 (Lucas Wilson)
Tongariro = VEI 3 (Carl Le Strange)
White Island = VEI 2 (based on previous eruptions)

[link to volcanocafe.wordpress.com]

You would basically need to park the ship over an erupting undersea volcano for that to be even remotely possible.

Seems unlikely.

Thread: ************* BLAZAR IS COMING!!!!!!!!*********%$25@%@%@%**************************8 (Page 22)

hiya luis

so they have decided that the pumice raft is not from the earlier monowai eruption...

“GNS Science says a sea of pumice floating towards New Zealand comes from a previously inert caldera called the Havre Volcano near Curtis Island in the Kermadecs.”
[link to www.radionz.co.nz]
[link to www.gns.cri.nz]

wow, thanks, how interesting, i will read the info now

Mysterious pumice raft in NZ source identified

[link to the-end-time.blogspot.co.nz]

I noted a few days ago the mysterious pumice raft discovered floating around the southern sea. A volcano had erupted. But where? Which volcano? Well, the scientists think they have discovered the source of the pumice raft. And when I day 'raft' that is the term the scientists are using. It sounds dinky, but the size of the floating pumice was over an area of 25,000 square km. They think the pumice came from a previously unknown volcano.

Scientists rock theory on pumice raft
"A large pumice raft spotted floating in the Pacific Ocean was formed nearly a month ago when an unknown volcano erupted, scientists have determined. An Air force Orion spotted the huge raft, measuring 463 kilometres by 55 kilometres, on Thursday, and samples were collected later in the evening by the navy's HMNZS Canterbury. Vulcanologists had thought it might have been produced by New Zealand's third erupting volcano, the undersea mountain Monowai, but that theory has now been put to rest. ... GNS vulcanologist Brad Scott said he was unaware of any volcano in the specific location where the raft was believed to have originated from. "At this time I don't know if we could identify a sub-marine volcano at that location," Scott said. It could have been emitted from a previously-unknown volcano, or it could be that others have knowledge of a volcano in the area while he doesn't, he said."

In other words, global volcanoes are going off left and right, and some that have never erupted are erupting, others that have been long dormant are erupting, and now there are just eruptions they don't know how or where they happen, but evidence that they have is scattered over 25,000 km and thus pretty hard to ignore. The earth sure is active.

Map highlights volcano hotspots (+graphic)
Monday Aug 13, 2012




GNS Science has released a hazard map of the areas most at risk from flying hot rocks or pyroclastic mudflows should Mt Tongariro erupt again.

Surrounding and to the west and south of the Te Maari craters, where Tongariro erupted last Monday for the first time in more than 100 years, is the area at risk most from flying rocks and explosions from North Tongariro...


ReadMore:
[link to www.nzherald.co.nz]

CURTIS VOLCANO

[link to www.gns.cri.nz]

Curtis Island (Figure 11), about 35 km south-south-west of Macauley Island, is a small island, about 800 metres in a north-west by south-east direction, and 500 metres at right angles. Cheeseman Island, about 500 metres by 300 metres, and similarly aligned, lies to the west, across Stella Passage, which is about 600 metres wide. The islands are the eroded peaks of a volcano at the summit of a broad topographic rise, measuring about 25 km by 15 km, on the crest of the Kermadec Ridge. Some 20 km south-east of Curtis Island, on the same topographic rise, is a recently discovered submarine seamount, which has been tentatively identified as volcanic, on the basis of a plume of gas and a chemical anomaly in the water. Curtis Island, unlike Macauley and Raoul Islands, has active fumaroles (gas vents) in its crater, a structure 300 to 400 metres long by about 200 metres wide, with its floor only about 10 metres above sea level.

Pyroclastic deposits, part of which are welded, make up the bulk of Curtis Island. The rocks are massive, poorly-bedded ash deposits with larger blocks. Fragments in the ash are of pumice and andesite, and the fact that some of the rocks are welded suggests that they may be ignimbrites. The vent from which the rocks were erupted is unknown and almost certainly lies offshore. The rocks have not been dated, and the volcanic history of Curtis and Cheeseman Islands is not yet known. A study in 1979 by A.C.Doyle, R.J.Singleton and J.C.Yaldwyn (see Supplementary Reading) demonstrated that remarkable uplift has taken place in the islands, totalling 18 metres in about the last 200 years, and 7 metres between 1929 and 1964. This, and the presence of active fumaroles, suggests that the volcano is potentially active, and the presence of pumice fragments means that the eruptions are certainly explosive, and probably large. There are no authentic reports of historically observed eruptions at Curtis Island, although there have been several occasions on which a greater discharge of acrid fumes than usual has been seen.
Hazards to be expected are similar to those for Macauley Island. Dangers are principally to aircraft and to shipping in the vicinity. Because of the likely explosive nature of eruptions at Curtis Island, it is to be expected that tsunami will be generated.

hiya bro, wow, thank you

man, things are happening..

Source of pumice identified

[link to www.radionz.co.nz]

GNS Science says a sea of pumice floating towards New Zealand comes from a previously inert caldera called the Havre Volcano near Curtis Island in the Kermadecs.
The pumice is moving southwards.
Principal scientist Cornel de Ronde says undersea volcanoes erupt from time to time, but activity from this one has not been recorded before.
He says there are far more volcanoes under the ocean than on land.
"When these particular types of volcanoes erupt they tend to form a lot of pumice and the pumice is very light so it floats to the surface, so there's been a number of these pumice rafts over the last several years".
It was detected with the help of French seismologists in Tahiti.

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wow we might have some serious amounts of pumice here on the beaches soon!!!

how cool!!

in nz one of the things we do with pumice is make cool garden features with it

and of course it makes a fabulous skin loofah

we had a poster from europe earlier telling us how incredibly expensive a tiny piece of pumice is there the other day..

Thread: Magnetic Anomalies=SPREADING SEAFLOOR= Physical Earth Changes

How diffent is this years valcano activity to past years.

Serious flooding in Christchurch suburbs. More rain forecast.

[link to www.stuff.co.nz]

hiya tara

i am trying to find a list of our most recent eruptions, i will make my own list..

most recent nz eruptions:

Raoul Island
March 17 2006

Monowai
in 2008

Ruapehu
September 25 2007

White Island
March to September 2000

Rumble III (400 kms from Tauranga coast)
approx 2007

i think there may have been another undersea one, near tauranga in the last 5 years, i will keep hunting

maybe this one:

" on arrival at Brothers III, the latest expedition found evidence of a large eruption having taken place. The summit was found to be 100 metres lower and the 800 metre-wide crater had been filled. Rumbles III sits in 1400 metres of water about 350 km north-east of the Bay of Plenty."