At a depth of 500 meters, off the coast of El Hierro, the spotlight of a small submarine illuminates the volcano that emerged under water more than 4 years ago. On board the vehicle, the Canarian researcher Magdalena Santana is the first person to have the opportunity to observe it up close with her own eyes, since it emerged in 2011.
In October of that year, after thousands of tremors were detected in the area in a few days, the volcano finally erupted in front of the town of La Restinga , which had to be evacuated several times. The ocean turned green due to the sulfur in the fumes, and large smoking rocks appeared floating on the surface, which were baptized as restingolites.
It was the first time that a volcanic eruption had occurred in Spain since 1971, and it was also a great opportunity to study an event such as the birth of an underwater volcano even before it occurred.
Since then, data of all kinds have been collected, samples have been collected with underwater robots, images have been taken and the seabed of the area has been mapped. More than 20 campaigns in which some 40 oceanographic parameters have been recorded and which have generated a long series of data of great scientific interest.
The volcano was expelling lava for 5 months, and then it went into a degassing phase in which it is currently, and in which it does not expel lava, but it does expel heat and gases .
New discoveries in 2016
The recent underwater expedition , carried out in February and which has put scientists face to face with the volcano for the first time, has allowed us to observe how the gas is released and confirm some of the inquiries that the researchers had made in this weather.
Experts have made several dives and have found how the fauna and flora of the area, which were reduced to a minimum when the eruption occurred, are now recovering at high speed .
The same volcano that at first caused the destruction of a large part of the Mar de las Calmas ecosystem, in this second phase, when certain toxic agents have disappeared, it is supplying the necessary nutrients for life to regenerate.
The investigations that are being carried out not only allow us to know what is happening in El Hierro, but it will also help to know a little better the oceanic volcanism, something quite important if one takes into account that 80% of the volcanic activity of the Earth occurs under water.
