Just off the West Coast of the United States something may be belch under the surface of the ocean . There is reason to believe that theAxial Seamount , an combat-ready underwater volcano 300 miles ( 480 km ) off the seacoast of Oregon , may be spew forward undersea lava . However , there is still equivocalness as to whether the event can be describe as an eruption , according toThe Seattle Times .
The eruption wasforecastby scientists during the fall of 2014 . GeologistsBill ChadwickofOregon State UniversityandScott Noonerof theUniversity of North Carolina Wilmingtonpredicted that the Axial Seamount would extravasate within 15 month based on gamy - tech seafloor instruments providing tangible - time data .
" It was an astonishing experience to see the change taking place 300 nautical mile forth with no one anywhere nearby,“saidJohn Delaney , a University of Washington oceanography prof who led the installation of the instrument . " The datum flow back to land at the velocity of visible light through the fibre - eye transmission line link up to Pacific City — and from there , to here on campus by the Internet , in milliseconds . "
Image Credit : usance - work up insistency sensor detects the apparent movement of the seafloor /NSF - OOI / UW / CSSF
The area has been have thousands of tiny earthquakes for over a week now ; a sign that magma under the earth ’s crust is making its way towards the aerofoil . The seafloor drop by2.4 meters(8 foot ) , which indicates magma is being drawn from an underground man-made lake .
There ’s no need to pack up your surfboard just yet though : Researchers say the event is no scourge to the sea-coast or coastal resident . The earthquakes that materialise before and after the eruption are little in magnitude , and the seafloor movements are gradual and can not cause a tsunami .
Scientists will attempt to chaffer the seamount this summer to confirm whether or not it recrudesce . “ It is n’t clear yet whether the earthquakes and deflation at Axial are related to a full - blown eruption , or if it is only a expectant trespass of magma that has n’t quite reach the surface,”saidChadwick . “ There are some hints that lava did erupt , but we may not hump for sure until we can get out there with a ship . ”
