Volcano experts at the University of Tasmania described the biggest eruption of the Havre Seamount underwater volcano, which occurred in 2012.
In an article published in the journal Science Advances, experts consider the eruption to be the largest in history, according to Science Alert.
Scientists initially did not detect the eruption of the volcano, but found on the coast of New Zealand a large floating island of poppy rock, covering 26,000 square kilometers and a thickness of 3.5 meters.
Three months after the eruption of the volcano, the volcanic eruptions broke apart into pieces of rocks, some of which were deposited in the seabed and the other part bounded by the coasts of the islands of Tonga, New Zealand and Australia.
Scientists identified the path and strength of volcanic activity by an unmanned underwater device. They also identified the location of the volcano where they discovered a caldera (volcanic lake) at a depth of 1,220 meters, 4.5 kilometers in diameter, formed by the eruption of the volcano. At the bottom of the lake, the experts found 14 wells, where the volcano threw lava and ashes.
The eruption, the largest in the history of underwater volcanoes, is estimated by scientists to be 1.5 times stronger than the eruption of St. Helen's volcano in 1980.
