Axial Seamount rises 1,100 meters in height with a diameter of 2km, positioned 1,400m beneath the ocean’s surface.
After its last eruption in 2015, scientists now observe signs that indicate the volcano could potentially erupt again this year.
Mark Zumberge, a geologist affiliated with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, referred to the volcano as ‘the most well-instrumented submarine volcano on the planet’.
In November, the surface of Axial swelled to a height comparable to its pre-eruption state in 2015.
From a scientific perspective, this finding signifies that magma accumulation beneath the ground has heightened the internal pressure of the volcano, as per expert analysis.
Valerio Acocella, a volcanologist from Roma Tre University, describes the Axial volcano as a ‘very promising volcano’ that can enhance the understanding of volcanologists.
He cautions about the potential for the volcano to display unpredictable behavior, noting: “There’s always a risk that a Volcano will follow a pattern that we haven’t seen before and do something unexpected.”
While Acocella doesn’t believe a 2025 eruption will completely change eruption prediction, he considers it a positive development.
He remarked: “We’ll understand it better and that will help us understand other volcanoes, too.”
If the underwater volcano does erupt this year, what processes will transpire?
According to Ocean Explorer, underwater volcanic eruptions are typical of the rift zones where crustal plates are formed.
In these rift zones, tectonic plates are diverging, leading to what is known as spreading center eruptions.
Despite occurring underwater and being invisible from the surface, significant activities take place during these eruptions.
These eruptions generate basalt, identified by Ocean Exploration as the primary rock composing the oceanic crust.
An eruption of this type can bombard the Earth’s crust, similar to the occurrences with Hawaiian volcano eruptions, according to Ocean Explorer.
Underwater volcanic eruptions happen along seafloor spreading centers, which are distributed across all major ocean basins around the world.
Such eruptions can be triggered by a magma plume ascending through the Earth’s crust, above a melting area within the mantle.