Monowai Seamount

Name

Monowai Seamount

Depth

132 metres

Height

100 meters

Type

Submarine volcano

Location

New Zealand

Status

Historical

Eruption

2008

Description

Wai seamount also known as Orion seamount, rises to within 100 meters of the sea surface about halfway between the Kermadec and Tonga island groups. The volcano lies at the southern end of the Tonga Ridge and is slightly offset from the Kermadec volcanoes. Small parasitic cones occur on the north and west flanks of the basaltic submarine volcano, which rises from a depth of about 1500 m and was named for one of the New Zealand Navy bathymetric survey ships that documented its morphology. A large 8.5 x 11 km wide submarine caldera with a depth of more than 1500 m lies to the North. Numerous eruptions from Monowai have been detected from submarine acoustic signals since it was first recognized as a volcano in 1977.