The Barren Islands volcano, India’s only active volcano is spewing lava and ash after almost 150 years.
The volcano situated in Andaman and Nicobar last showed activity in 1991 and has been dormant ever since.
A team of scientists led by Abhay Mudholkar, from CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography (CSIR-NIO) in Goa reported that the volcano is active and spewing smoke and lava once again.
“On the afternoon of January 23, 2017, the scientific team on board CSIR-NIO’s research ship R V Sindhu Sankalp were busy collecting sea floor samples in the Andaman Basin near the Barren volcano when it suddenly started spewing ash,” the NIO has said.
“The team moved about one mile from the volcano and began closely observing it. It was erupting in small episodes lasting about five to ten minutes,” the release said.
According to CNN, the volcano emitted lava and ashes for about 5-10 minutes.
The CSIR team also added that during the day only ash clouds can be seen while in the night red lava fountains were also seen.
“The team observed the activity for about four hours before continuing with their research cruise. Landing on the volcanic island was not attempted as it was too dangerous,” NIO has said.
They have sampled the sediments and water in the vicinity of the volcano and recovered coal-like black pyroclastic material representing proximal volcanic ejecta. Clouds were seen at the crater mouth where the smoke was bellowing out in otherwise clear sky,” the researchers said.
The samples will help in deciphering the nature of the present and past volcanic activity in the region.
(With inputs from PTI)
(Feature image source: WikiCommons)