Tonga’s latest eruption produced a vertical plume of water and ash more than 50 kilometers high, and the heat released remained the largest source of gravitational waves on Earth for the next 12 hours. The event also produced undulating gravitational waves that stretched out into the Pacific, satellite observations showed. Eventually, atmospheric waves were also generated, circling the planet at least six times and reaching speeds close to their theoretical limit: 320 meters per second.
“This was a really massive and unique explosion in terms of what science has observed so far,” comments Corwin Wright, who led the study. “We’ve never seen atmospheric waves revolve around the entire planet — or at this speed,” he adds. But the authors of the study also expect other effects: “My feeling is that there is still more to be expected from this outbreak,” says Scott Osprey from the University of Oxford, who was involved in the research. “As the extraordinary amount of water vapor spreads throughout the stratosphere – Osprey continues – all eyes will be on the ozone hole and its extent when spring arrives in the southern hemisphere.”