This screen grab taken from footage taken by Japan's Himawari-8 satellite shows the volcanic eruption that provoked a tsunami in Tonga. Photo: Handout / National Institute of Information and Communications Technology / AFP
A newly published study in the international Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research suggests Tonga's 2022 volcanic eruption was caused by gas-driven climactic explosion rather than a phreatomagmatic one - where magma and water react violently through the water column.
The study describes how the formation of a gas seal led to a 58km high ash plume, and a crater that's deeper than the Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai.
The eruption spread shock waves that almost engulfed the entire world.
Principal Scientist, Cornel de Ronde speaks with Pacific Waves host Susana Suisuiki.
