The massive eruption from the underwater Tonga volcano in the Pacific generated a blast so powerful it sent massive pressure waves rippling through the atmosphere and around the world. A new study shows that these waves were the fastest ever observed in the atmosphere.
Corwin Wright is a Royal Society University Research Fellow based at the Centre for Space, Atmospheric and Oceanic Science at the University of Bath in the U.K. He said the waves traveled very close to the theoretical limit.
The findings were published in the journal Nature.
The volcano is located northwest of the capital of Nuku'aloFA and is part of the volcanic arcs. The mesosphere is the third layer of the atmosphere above the ground. The largest volcanic plume in the satellite record was reached at its highest point.
Dramatic photos show the aftermath of the huge eruption of the island nation of Tonga.
Scientists around the world immediately began sifting through the data from various ground-based and spaceborne monitoring systems.
One research team found that the atmospheric waves produced by Hunga compared to those produced by the Krakatau eruption in Indonesia, which was the most destructive volcanic eruption in recorded history. The waves produced by both volcanoes were similar in that they traveled the same way four times and three times in different directions. The research team found that the waves that appeared in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea were caused by air-pressure changes in the ocean.
Powerful winds with speeds of up to 450 mph are possible above the Karman line, which marks the edge of space about 100 km above our planet.
The Hunga eruption was one of the most significant volcanic events in modern history, according to Wright and his coauthors. The waves produced by the volcano reached speeds up to 1,050 feet per second, according to their results.
The eruption was an experiment. The data we've been able to gather will help us better understand the atmosphere and the weather.
It was originally published on Live Science
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