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Drama in the Deep

April 16, 2017

Red-hot magma and a plume of sulfurous fluid spew from the West Mata Volcano on the seafloor 110 miles southwest of Samoa in May 2009. At almost 4,000 feet below the ocean surface, this is the deepest volcanic eruption ever filmed. Photos and video were obtained by a high-definition camera system developed at the WHOI Advanced Imaging and Visualization Laboratory and deployed on the WHOI remotely operated vehicle Jason. (Joe Resing, Univ. of Washington/NOAA, NSF/AIVL/ROV Jason 2009 © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)