A Major Explosive Eruption in Ongoing; The Media is Missing It [5:09]

YouTube ^ | May 13, 2026 | GeologyHub

[SunkenCiv]

A major explosive volcanic eruption is ongoing, the largest so far of 2026, and yet the media is largely missing it. What I am referring to is a volcano which few people have ever heard of located within the central Bismarck Sea. Going by the same name of that area, it is currently producing its largest eruption on record, having already generated abundant pumice rafts and an eruption plume that rose 13,000 feet above the ocean surface. This is all due to the planet's largest deep submarine volcanic eruption in more than a decade! 

A Major Explosive Eruption in Ongoing; The Media is Missing It | 5:09 
GeologyHub | 392K subscribers | 5,208 views | May 13, 2026

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TOPICS: Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: geology; geologyhub; volcano

[SunkenCiv]

YouTube transcript reformatted at textformatter.ai *will* follow. This guy's informative as all get-out, but his voice is, uh, not good.

[SunkenCiv]

Transcript

Chapter 1: Major Ongoing Eruption

The largest explosive volcanic eruption so far of 2026 is actively ongoing, and for whatever reason, it seems like no one is paying attention to it. In fact, if you were not an airline pilot in Oceania, you might have never known this eruption was actively ongoing. Yet, all you have to do to see the ongoing eruption is look at satellite imagery in the Central Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea because the effects this eruption are having are so significant. There, what appears to be a volcanic complex simply known as the Central Bismarck Sea is producing the strongest deep submarine volcanic eruption on the planet in more than a decade! While in my opinion, I am skeptical of the accuracy of topographic seafloor data in the vicinity, it seems like this eruption is occurring at these approximate coordinates at a spot that is noted as having a depth of 770 meters or 2,526 feet. And yet, despite the vast amount of atmospheric pressure an eruption would have to experience at such depths, specifically up to 1125 psi, the eruption seemingly contained sufficient volatiles and material to not cause an eruption plume to rise all the way to the surface but also then rise 13,000 feet above it. This created volcanic ash advisories, hence my observations that local airline pilots may already know of the eruption. Alongside this largely white colored plume, an area of nearly 2,100 square kilometers of ocean has been turned a shade of cyan to green, and numerous thermal signatures were detected close to the source vent on the ocean surface. I suspect these thermal signatures to indicate either the presence of floating gas-filled lava balloons, hot pumice, or a combination of both on the surface. Additionally, multiple satellite images have detected the presence of extensive floating pumice rafts, which on May 9th seemingly covered an area of 13 square kilometers. To those in the audience, you might think,

[SunkenCiv]

Chapter 2: Pumice

so what, but this can be a major problem for both passing ships and those who live on nearby islands. On ships, pumice rafts can clog machinery and damage engine components which are expensive to fix. As for people on local islands, large pumice rafts can disrupt ship traffic, clog ports, and even make it more difficult to fish for a time. With that being said, in my opinion, no one is in direct danger of death or injury from the ongoing eruption, unless a ship were to possibly venture above the eruption site where the water would be less buoyant and the eruption plume is, or an aircraft were to fly into its presumably ash-containing eruption plume. It is difficult to estimate how much has erupted so far, but I’d speculate somewhere around 18 million cubic meters of material, largely pumice. The presence of this pumice in of itself is quite interesting, as its occurrence helps scientists narrow down the eruption’s likely composition. Pumice tends to only erupt at intermediate to felsic volcanoes, predominantly the latter, so there is a decent chance that the ongoing eruption is involving andesite, dacite, or rhyolitic magma. It helps that higher silica magmas have lower densities, meaning that floating pumice is more likely to form from such the more felsic the source magma is. Also, due to what types of volcanoes tend to form in oceanic settings, basalt eruptions often dominate there. However, this part of Papua New Guinea has produced a rhyolitic eruption in recent times, specifically the one at St. Andrew Strait from 1953 to 1957. While the Central Bismarck Sea submarine volcano

[SunkenCiv]

Chapter 3: 1972 Eruption

While the Central Bismarck Sea submarine volcanodid previously erupt in 1972, that occurred at a spot seemingly 18 kilometers to the west-northwest of the ongoing eruption. I suspect that the complex is more of a volcanic field or chain of multiple cones rather than a singular central edifice. It appears that eruptive activity began between May 8th, 2026, and May 9th, 2026, and has been continuously ongoing ever since.

Chapter 4: Geologic Setting

All of this is occurring near a bend in a tectonic plate boundary I could simply describe as very complex which involves the collision of the North Bismarck Plate with the South Bismarck Plate. Regardless, I do not personally expect the ongoing eruption to form a new island due to the area’s vast depth, but in my opinion, increasing eruption plume heights higher than observed so far do remain a possibility. Stay tuned for more updates. As a final note, I would like to thank this channel’s patrons on Patreon and channel members on YouTube for supporting my work!

[Fai Mao]

I listen to that guy when I can’t sleep. His voice could put a toddler with ADHD to sleep.

[PGalt]

BUMP!

[Adder]

I don’t know that there has been this much serious volcanic worldwide. Not just tremors etc...big stuff.

“Whoopee! We all gonna die!”~ Country Joe

[Sequoyah101]

Myron?

[SaveFerris]

(the central Bismarck Sea)

Is Bismarck a hewwing?

[dfwgator]

Wherever I go I hope there’s rum!

[dfwgator]

“Myron!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFJpH5EuMuk

[jmacusa]

“Never believe anything until it’s been officially denied’’. Otto Von Bismark.

[citizen]

Is this a submarine volcano? Hunga Tonga hurled massive quantities of water/vapor high into the stratosphere. Not much in the way of aerosols and particulates.

[Fai Mao]

Whoever does those Geology hub Vlogs. He presents good information, but needs some lessons in public speaking.

[xp38]

But not sodomy and the lash!

[ConservativeMind]

I did not know this. I wonder how much greenhouse gas it’s been putting out, every year.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“18 million cubic meters of pumice”

That would be a 23 ft thick pumice raft, 1 sq mile in area (1 mile x 1 mile x 23 ft).

Or a 5 mile diameter pumice raft 1 ft thick.

Either way, that’s a big pumice raft!

They companies that make pumice stone abrasives for your bathroom tile are salivating!