NASA MODIS Image of the Day: December 23, 2011 – Submarine eruptions off El Hierro, Canary Islands
Milky green swirls in the Atlantic Ocean mark the eruption of an underwater volcano off of the coast of El Hierro, Canary Islands.
This true-color image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite as it passed over the region on December 16, 2011.
The eruption is located about one kilometer south-southwest of the town of La Restinga, which is the southernmost village in the Canary Islands. After two months of eruptions and six months of earthquakes and tremors, the volcano has been building a mass of new crust that measures tens to perhaps a hundred meters tall. Despite the height, the new land is still nowhere near rising above the ocean surface to extend the Canary Island chain. The turquoise and green stains arise over the active vent, and are a volcanic brew of steaming lava fragments, heated gas, bits of rock and other debris. The elements of the volcanic brew are carried to the west and north by currents, creating extensive tendrils of visible stain in the Atlantic Ocean.
