New trigger proposed for record-smashing 2022 Tonga eruption—unstudied data from seismic wave points to early signals

Phys.org  November 4, 2024 Researchers in Japan analyzed seismometer data recorded in Fiji and Futuna located over 750 km away. They extracted Rayleigh waves and estimated their powers and source directions, assuming retrograde particle motions. They found a Rayleigh wave from the HTHH’s direction about 15 min before the eruption onset. The arrival time difference of the Rayleigh wave between the two stations was consistent with that of the M5.8 earthquake during the eruption located beneath the HTHH. Referring to other seismic signals and satellite images, they concluded that the Rayleigh wave was the most significant eruption precursor with no […]

New study disputes Hunga Tonga volcano’s role in 2023–24 global warm-up

Phys.org  July 26, 2024 The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai (Hunga) submarine volcanic eruption on 15 January 2022 produced aerosol and water vapor plumes in the stratosphere. An international team of researchers (Canada, USA – industry, Texas A&M) calculated the climate forcing for the 2 years after the 15 January 2022, Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai (Hunga) eruption using satellite observations of stratospheric aerosols, trace gases and temperatures to compute the tropopause radiative flux changes relative to climatology. The net downward radiative flux decreased compared to climatology. The Hunga stratospheric water vapor anomaly initially increased the downward infrared radiative flux, but this forcing diminished […]

Tonga Volcano Blasted Out Pressure Waves “Very Close to The Theoretical Limit”

Science Alert  July 1, 2022 The initial explosion and subsequent plume triggered atmospheric waves which propagated around the world multiple times. An international team of researchers (UK, USA – industry, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Virginia Tech, University of Colorado Boulder, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Catholic University of America, Germany, Australia, France) show the details of this response, using a comprehensive set of satellite and ground-based observations to quantify it from surface to ionosphere. A broad spectrum of waves was triggered by the initial explosion, including Lamb waves propagating at phase speeds of 318.2±6 ms-1 at surface level and between […]