National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
United States Department of Commerce

Volcanism

Deepest-Known Undersea Volcano Creates Nightmare Garden Of Glass

In December 2015, deep-sea researchers found a garden of glass on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Like a nightmarish Dale Chihuly exhibit, dark rings of rapidly cooled magma spilled out of an undersea volcano and hung frozen in the dark gallery of the Pacific, unfit to completely crystallize in the cold water. The pillowy magma formations extended for 4.5 miles (7.3 kilometers), covering the floor of a trench about 3 miles (4.5 km) beneath the water’s surface. Bill Chadwick is quoted from OSU press release. 

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