How did westward volcaniclastic deposits accumulate in the deep sea following the January 2022 eruption of Hunga volcano?

Chaknova, Marcus ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9099-4986; Giachetti, Thomas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1360-6768; Paredes‐Mariño, Joali ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5103-5452; Soule, Adam ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4691-6300; Van Eaton, Alexa R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6646-4594; Beinart, Roxanne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1672-5957; Crundwell, Martin; Cronin, Shane J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7499-603X; Jutzeler, Martin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3720-6315; Fauria, Kristen E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9065-6147; Clare, Michael A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1448-3878; Yeo, Isobel A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9306-3446; Arellano, Shawn ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9775-214X; Kelly, Liam ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1132-7207; Watson, Sally ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3666-5034; Carey, Rebecca; Kula, Taaniela; Young, Craig M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6923-8258. 2025 How did westward volcaniclastic deposits accumulate in the deep sea following the January 2022 eruption of Hunga volcano? Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 26 (4). 10.1029/2024GC011629

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Text © 2025 The Author(s). Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Geophysical Union. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited Geochem Geophys Geosyst - 2025 - Chaknova - How Did Westward Volcaniclastic Deposits Accumulate in the Deep Sea Following.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Download (5MB) | Preview

Abstract/Summary

Most volcanic eruptions on Earth take place below the ocean surface and remain largely unobserved. Reconstruction of past submerged eruptions has thus primarily been based on the study of seafloor deposits. Rarely before the 15 January 2022 eruption of Hunga volcano (Kingdom of Tonga) have we been able to categorically link deep-sea deposits to a specific volcanic source. This eruption was the largest in the modern satellite era, producing a 58-km-tall plume, a 20-m high tsunami, and a pressure wave that propagated around the world. The eruption induced the fastest submarine density currents ever measured, which destroyed submarine telecommunication cables and traveled at least 85 km to the west to the neighboring Lau Basin. Here we report findings from a series of remotely operated vehicle dives conducted 4 months after the eruption along the Eastern Lau Spreading Center-Valu Fa Ridge. Hunga-sourced volcaniclastic deposits 7–150 cm in thickness were found at nine sites, and collected. Study of the internal structure, grain size, componentry, glass chemistry, and microfossil assemblages of the cores show that these deposits are the distal portions of at least two ∼100-km-runout submarine density currents. We identify distinct physical characteristics of entrained microfossils that demonstrate the dynamics and pathways of the density currents. Microfossil evidence suggests that even the distal parts of the currents were erosive, remobilizing microfossil-concentrated sediments across the Lau Basin. Remobilization by volcaniclastic submarine density currents may thus play a greater role in carbon transport into deep sea basins than previously thought.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1029/2024GC011629
ISSN:	1525-2027
Additional Keywords:	submarine volcano, density currents, foraminifera, Hunga volcano, microfossils, radiolaria
Date made live:	29 Apr 2025 13:15 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/539352

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