TONGA (Commonwealth Union)_The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai volcano erupted in January 2022 after having a comparatively quiet period since 2014. Globally, the eruption produced tsunami waves, sonic booms, and atmospheric shock waves.
In a recent study, researchers from Oregon State University and the University of Hawaii at Mnoa found that within 48 hours of the eruption, a bloom of microscopic marine life had covered an area that was nearly 40 times the size of the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
A variety of satellite photos were examined by scientists, including those in true colour, red and infrared radiation emission, and light reflected at the ocean’s surface. They came to the conclusion that the principal supply of nutrients for phytoplankton development was probably the deposition of volcanic ash.
“Even though the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai eruption was undersea, a massive cloud of ash reached a height of tens of kilometres into the stratosphere,” said Benedetto Barone, a research oceanographer at the Centre for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C-MORE) in SOEST. As a result of the ash fallout, phytoplankton concentrations grew to levels that were far higher than those typically recorded in the area.
The foundation of the marine food web is made up of phytoplanktons, which are minuscule photosynthesising creatures that generate oxygen.
“We were impressed to observe the vast region with high chlorophyll concentrations at such a short time following the eruption,” said Dave Karl, research co-author and director of C-MORE. This demonstrates how rapidly an ecosystem may adapt to fertilizer application.
“A casual observer would see seemingly very distinct elements of the environment—in this case, a volcano producing a significant eruption and a significant change in the ecology of the neighbouring waters,” said Ken Rubin, research co-author and a volcanologist in the SOEST Department of Earth Sciences. Our data, however, highlight the extensive connectivity and interdependence of several environmental factors, maybe even pointing to a widely underappreciated connection between volcanism and shallow marine ecosystems.
