When the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano blows up its top in 2022, it is not just one of the most powerful eruptions in modern history, but a wave caused in space.
The explosion brought towering ash and gas feathers over 31 miles (50 kilometers) into the atmosphere, pounced on commercial jet cruises and most weather-lived places. But what is the idea of a truly bragging scientist? The chain reaction did not stop. It keeps moving forward – all the roads to the high atmosphere, our satellites orbit the Earth.
A new study published in Agu Advents explains how the Gargantuan eruption managed to twist part of the Earth that most volcanoes would never touch. Using satellite data and atmospheric modeling, the researchers tested two culprits: lamb waves – “embracing” the pressure waves on the Earth's surface and secondary gravity waves, which are generated when the first wave, uh, wave, falls off in the sky.
The researchers found that secondary gravity waves were the culprit because their rapid motion and larger size better matched the satellite data studied by the team. Basically, the Tonga outbreak produced such a strong shock wave that it shook the sky.
The findings complement earlier studies that suggest that the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai outbreak emanates subtle seismic signatures – Rayleigh Wave –forward The outbreak begins and can be detected by seismometers over 400 miles (644 kilometers). That wave – the erosion of humanity – is a rare and overlooked clue that something catastrophic is about to happen. In conclusion, these studies show that large-scale volcanic events not only shake the ground—they shake the entire atmosphere from the bottom of the sea to the edge of space. Now, scientists realize that the most violent eruptions on Earth may leave multiple early fingerprints if we know where (when) to look.
The team's research also reminds you that what's happening on the surface of the earth can even disrupt the edges of space, and we increasingly rely on an area for communication, weather tracking and climate modeling, and GPS. The more we understand how events like this disappear from their source, the more we can protect the technology we rely on to run here.
