The massive eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano near the island nation of Tonga on January 15 this year produced the highest ash cloud ever recorded on Earth. At 57 kilometers, the eruption column even penetrated the third layer of the Earth’s atmosphere, the mesosphere. Scientists at the University of Oxford have now confirmed this assumption.
The colossal eruption unleashed tsunami waves that even hit Japan, Alaska and South America. For days after the eruption, there was little information about the Polynesian island nation, which lies 2,300 kilometers northeast of New Zealand.
Eruption turned island into ‘moonscape’
The kingdom of 107,000 was covered in a thick layer of ash, which also contaminated drinking water and turned the island into a “moonscape”. The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai is located just 40 miles north of Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, below the surface of the sea.
Until now, however, the scientists lacked a method to measure exactly how high the ash cloud was, it said in a statement. The images taken every ten minutes by weather satellites, documenting the rapid changes in the cloud’s orbit, along with the phenomenon of the so-called parallax effect (a phenomenon of perceptual psychology, ed.) would have made this possible now. .
The previous record was 40 kilometers
The results showed that the cloud reached a height of 57 kilometers at its highest point. “This is significantly higher than the previous record holders,” the researchers said. In 1991, the Pinatubo volcano in the Philippines threw up the highest known eruption column, measured by satellite. It would have reached an altitude of 40 kilometers. The El Chichón cloud in Mexico rose about 31 kilometers in 1982.
The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai eruption is the first observable evidence of a volcanic eruption whose material was injected into the mesosphere through the stratosphere, it said. This starts about 50 kilometers above the Earth’s surface.
Calculation made possible with good satellite coverage
“This is an extraordinary result, as we have never seen such a high cloud,” said lead author Simon Proud of the University of Oxford. Moreover, thanks to good satellite coverage, it is only now possible to calculate the height of an eruption column using the parallax method. “A decade ago, that wouldn’t have been possible.”
Co-author Andrew Prata said: “Other scientific questions we want to understand are: Why did the Tonga cloud rise so high? What are the climatic effects of this eruption? And what exactly is the cloud made of?”
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
