Tonga volcano triggered seafloor debris stampede

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Tonga volcano triggered seafloor debris stampede

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Last year's Tonga volcanic eruption produced the fastest underwater flows ever recorded, scientists say.

Huge volumes of rock, ash and mud were clocked moving across the ocean floor at speeds of up to 122km/h (75mph).

These "density currents", as they're known, snapped long sections of telecommunications cabling, cutting the Pacific kingdom's link to the global internet.

They also smothered and killed all sealife in their path.

It's another example of the prodigious scale of the 15 January eruption.

Read More: BBC News

 

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I recently read a report detailing the astounding amount of ocean water that became aerosolized and dispersed during that eruption.  It was the first time I'd ever heard of massive amounts of water vapor causing short-term warming of the atmosphere.